ABSTRACT
Packaging for fresh produce sometimes requires features that ensure uniform and rapid airflow to enable cooling and gas exchange. Therefore, ventilation ports are employed. However, the analysis of cooling and ventilation efficiencies via manufacturing various types of packages in order to obtain a package with maximum ventilation efficiency requires substantial time and effort. Moreover, it is difficult to determine the airflow in all regions of a closed and narrow space. Consequently, the size and layout of ventilation ports in the packaging of fresh produce are not based on any rigorous or tested rationale. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is widely used to analyze the behaviour of fluids in space. Therefore, CFD simulation can be used to optimize the ventilation efficiency of fresh produce packaging. In this chapter, two examples of a CFD simulation are introduced for strawberry packaging, one of which helps clarify the effects of air velocity and ventilation port diameter on the airflow in a carton box. The other example helps in analyzing the effect of different ventilation port layouts on the airflow distribution in the carton box.
