IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v297y2024ics0360544224010697.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enhancing cold storage efficiency: Sustainable apple pre-cooling utilizing polyethylene glycol and waste coconut oil as phase change materials for chilled energy recovery from air-conditioning condensate

Author

Listed:
  • Dhamodharan, Palanisamy
  • Bakthavatsalam, A.K.
  • Nijin, V.P.
  • Prabakaran, Rajendran
  • Kim, Sung Chul

Abstract

Thermal energy systems can be upgraded by integrating them into thermal energy storage systems. Furthermore, reliability can be increased by using locally available waste materials. In this study, waste coconut oil (WCO) from a nearby bake shop and polyethylene glycol (PEG) were used as phase change materials (PCMs) in thermal energy storage systems for pre-cooling apples in cold-storage plants. Field assessments of cold-storage plants and energy, exergy, economic, and environmental analyses were conducted to determine the system feasibility. The exergy efficiency increased from 11 to 90 % for the condensate flow rates from 2.5 to 8.3 L/h at 11 ± 1 °C, achieving 3 °C pre-cooling. Similarly, a 13–21 % reduction in the WCO solidification time was found. PCM-apple direct contact discharging experiments attained pre-cooling through natural and forced convection of 3.4 and 4.1 °C and 2.5 and 3.2 °C for PEG and WCO, respectively. Effective condensate utilization at 11 ± 1 °C obtained 75 % energy savings. The life cycle cost favored WCO over PEG 600, resulting in savings of $168 and a payback period of less than 6 months. Environmental assessments highlighted the energy-saving potential of air-conditioning condensates and efficiency of WCO in recovering condensate chilled energy for optimal apple pre-cooling in cold storage facilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Dhamodharan, Palanisamy & Bakthavatsalam, A.K. & Nijin, V.P. & Prabakaran, Rajendran & Kim, Sung Chul, 2024. "Enhancing cold storage efficiency: Sustainable apple pre-cooling utilizing polyethylene glycol and waste coconut oil as phase change materials for chilled energy recovery from air-conditioning condens," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:297:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224010697
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.131296
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224010697
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2024.131296?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:297:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224010697. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.