Solar Cooling for Mediterranean Region as a Crop Storage Technology

Abstract

The Mediterranean region is a major supplier of fruits and vegetables to Europe. Fruit harvesting continues the year round, including certain fruits to be harvested from September to June. The follow up of the specific temperature and humidity storage conditions becomes significantly energy intensive that adversely affects the energy balance of exporters, especially when the producing country is run out of affordable energy sources. In order to reduce the energy costs during the crop storage and avoid the crop wastage, the solar ejector cooling systems were introduced. These systems developed recently, are fully autonomous, does not contain mechanically moving parts, reliable and durable in performance. In addition, the new type of thermopump with high energy and performance characteristics was elaborated and tested within the ejector cooling system, driven by the imitated low-grade heat. The results of theoretical and experimental study of the thermopump and the ejector refrigeration system were described in the study along with factors that affect the system's efficiency. The crop storages operating regimes were reviewed during the storage season for the selected products. Temperature ranges defined for systems with constant area ratio ejector at COP values remains stable. Cold accumulators or duplicate conventional systems, applied during the night were considered as backup systems, supporting a non-stop operation.