International Journal of Refrigeration 26 (2003) 817822 www.elsevier.

com/locate/ijrefrig

Performance evaluation indexes for quick-freezers

Zhongjie Huan*
Department of Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineering, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, China Received 21 November 2002; received in revised form 31 March 2003; accepted 1 April 2003

Abstract The idea of evaluating refrigeration equipment and the practical performance evaluation indexes of quick-freezers, namely energy utilisation eciency, eciency of airow organisation, and uniform coecient of airow organisation, were suggested to compare the performances and to diagnose the existing problems for freezers. Based on the measurement, the performance evaluation indexes were applied to the performance analysis and the improvement for LSJ1500 spiral quick-freezer, the problem with LSJ1500 spiral quick-freezer was detected and the improved spiral quick-freezer LSJ1500A with the higher performance was achieved. It was proved that the suggested evaluation indexes are the eective tools in the food refrigeration industry. # 2003 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Quick-freezing; COP; Performance

des surge lateurs Performance et coecients decacite

lation ; COP ; Performance Mots cles : Surge

1. Introduction Quick frozen foodstus are widely consumed by people all over the world due to its favourable advantages such as high quality, nutrition, hygiene, and convenience [1,2]. Nowadays, various kinds of freezers are manufactured and their performances are of great difference, whilst there are unfortunately no perfect evaluation indexes to evaluate and to compare the performance for freezers.

* Corresponding author at current address: Technikon Free State, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Private Bag X20539, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa Fax: +27-51-5073254. E-mail address: zhuan@tfs.ac.za (Z. Huan).

The Coecient of Performance (COP) is adopted generally to analyse the performance of the refrigeration system, the refrigeration system with higher refrigeration and lower input power will have the higher COP value and vice verse. In industrial and commercial refrigeration, the purpose of refrigeration produced is for what to be processed. For example, the refrigeration produced by the refrigeration system in quick-freezer is used to cool down and to freeze the foods. Therefore, another important issue for the refrigeration equipment, whose importance is as same as that of how to produce the maximum refrigeration, is how to use the refrigeration produced eectively. Even the higher COP of the refrigeration system is achieved, the equipment still owns the low eciency if the refrigeration cannot be utilised eectively. Consequently, both aspects of refrigeration production and refrigeration utilisation should be taken into account integrally when to evaluate the refrigeration equipment.

0140-7007/03/$35.00 # 2003 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0140-7007(03)00072-0

818

Z. Huan / International Journal of Refrigeration 26 (2003) 817822

Nomenclature COP COPt D G Hi Ho k n N Nu Re t ti ui Q Wc Wf Coecient of performance of the refrigeration system Coecient of performance of the tunnel quick-freezer Characteristic dimension of food (m) Production rate of the quick freezer (kgh1) Enthalpy of food at the entrance of freezer (kJ kg1) Enthalpy of food at the exit of freezer (kJ kg1) Uniform coecient of airow organisation Number of the measurement points for temperature and velocity Shape factor Nusselt number Reynolds number Freezing time (s) Air temperature at the measurement point i ( C) Air velocity at the measurement point i (m s1) Refrigeration capacity of refrigeration system (kW) Input power of compressor (kW) Input power of the motors of fans (kW)

Harrison et al. [3] provided the performance coecient COPt for tunnel freezer, which was dened as: COPt Q Wc Wf 1

It is clear that such performance coecient only reects the performance of the refrigeration system but not the total performance of the tunnel freezer. The freezer is used to freeze food, the eective refrigeration, which is used to cool down foods, is only one part of the produced refrigeration. The factors inuencing the refrigeration utilisation or the performance of the freezing equipment include insulation performance of the body, heat and mass transfer quantity through the entrance and exit of the freezer, usage ratio of the freezing chamber, refrigeration consumed by the delivery belts, heat generation of the motors of the blowing fans, airow organisation, and so on. Therefore the desired performance indexes should have the ability to reect the performance of the refrigeration system and the inuence of all factors stated above. For the blasting quick-freezer, the airow organisation is the important factor aecting the energy utilisation eciency of the freezer and the dicult technical issue in the process of freezer design. In addition, the uniform performance of the airow organisation for some specic blasting freezers is critical to the freezing quality. Therefore, it is necessary for industry to establish the evaluation indexes to indicate quality of the designed airow organisation.

Greek letters 0 Coecient of convective heat transfer corresponding to the blasting velocity of the air cooler (kW m2  C1)  Actual coecient of convective heat transfer (kW m2  C1) Density of the frozen food (kg m3) e Energy utilisation eciency f Eciency of airow organisation  Temperature dierence between the phase change point of the food and the cooling medium temperature ( C) H Enthalpy dierence of food between the initial temperature and nal temperature (kJ kg1) l Thermal conductivity of frozen food (kW m2  C1) a0 Evaporation temperature of evaporator ( C) a Cooling medium temperature ( C) f Phase change point of food ( C)

2. Performance evaluation indexes of quick-freezers The following three evaluation indexes suggested can be used to analyse the performance of the freezer; they are energy utilisation eciency e, eciency of airow organisation f, and uniform coecient of airow organisation k. 2.1. Energy utilisation eciency of quick-freezers Ze The energy utilisation eciency can be dened as the ratio of the refrigeration quantity absorbed by foods and the consumed energy by the quick-freezer. The energy consumed by the delivery system is not associated with the refrigeration production and usage, therefore the sum of the energy consumed by the compressor and fans is taken as the total energy consumed by the quick-freezer. The refrigeration absorbed by the frozen foods, which is used to drop the temperature of the foods from the initial entrance temperature to the nal exit temperature, is the enthalpy dierence of foods, i.e. 3600.G.(HiHo), therefore

Z. Huan / International Journal of Refrigeration 26 (2003) 817822

819

e

3600 G Hi Ho Wc Wf

t2

DH D D N 

Due to the refrigeration consumed by the insulation body, entrance and exit, conveyor belt, and motors of fans, the refrigeration absorbed by the frozen foods is less than the refrigeration produced by the refrigeration system. i.e. 3600 G Hi Ho < Q COP Wc therefore e < COP Wc < COP Wc Wf 3

where t1 represents the inuence of the thermal conductivity of food on freezing time, t2 represents the inuence of the convective heat transfer on freezing time. The main factor aecting the convective heat transfer is the airow organisation; therefore, airow organisation can be evaluated by analysing t2. Eciency of airow organisation is dened as: f t2 0 t2 7

e is the overall evaluation index used to reect the level of energy utilisation for all kinds of freezers. The higher e, the higher the overall coecient of the energy utilisation is. This index is not only used to compare the energy eciency for the same kinds of freezers, but also for dierent kinds of freezers. According to the denition, if the refrigeration system in the quick-freezer doesnt own the higher COP value, the freezer will not have the higher energy utilisation eciency. Whilst if the freezer has the higher energy utilisation, it ensures that the refrigeration system owns the higher COP and at the same time the refrigeration produced can be absorbed eectively by the foods to be frozen. The same idea can be applied to all kinds of refrigeration equipment. 2.2. Eciency of airow organisation Zf Energy utilisation eciency is the overall evaluation index for energy utilisation, but it cannot indicate the specic factors inuence on value of e. Among the factors stated above, the dicult and important one is the airow organisation. It would not only aect the performance of the freezer, but also the freezing quality of foods. Based on Plank equation [4]:   DH D D 1 t D N 4l  4

where: (t2)0 is the partial freezing time of food corresponding to the ideal airow organisation, it is the reference value for the calculation of airow organisation. t2 is the partial freezing time corresponding to the actual airow organisation. For a specic quick-freezer without loads, the limitation of the freezing air temperature can be assumed as the evaporation temperature of the refrigeration system, which can be taken as the reference temperature. The blasting velocity of the fans can be regarded as the reference velocity of the airow organisation. Consequently, the eciency of airow organisation can be expressed as:   1 1 D  0 D    f  8 1 1 D 0 D  where: =fa Phase change point of food f can be assumed as 0  C, then: D a therefore f  a 0  a 0 9

The freezing time depends on the following two groups of parameters, one is used to describe the food characteristics, such as H, , l, D and shape, another is to describe the freezing environment, such as  and . The freezing time can be divided into the following two parts: DH D D N 4l
2

The eciency of airow organisation will be identied if the evaporation temperature of the refrigeration system, the freezing air temperature, and the convective heat transfer coecients corresponding to the blasting velocity and the freezing velocity. The eciency of airow organisation of the quick freezer reects the quality of the airow organisation designed. The higher the eciency f, the more reasonable the airow organisation is. The range of f is [0, 1]. 2.3. Uniform coecient of airow organisation k

t1

The uniform coecient of airow organisation is the critical factor for the freezing quality in some freezers

820

Z. Huan / International Journal of Refrigeration 26 (2003) 817822

such as the tunnel freezer and the patch freezing equipment, though it is not associated with the energy utilisation eciency apparently. Based on the following procedures, sucient measurement points for the temperature and velocity in freezing area are needed in order to identify the uniform coecient of airow organisation 1. Arithmetic mean values: P 8 ti > <t n P > : u ui n 2. Standard deviations: s 8 P > > ti t2 > < t n rP > > u2 u > i : u n

3.1. Measurement In order to determine the evaluation indexes the following parameters were measured. 1. The blasting and freezing velocities of the cooled air. 2. The evaporation and freezing temperatures. 3. The energy consumed by compressors and fans. 30 probes of temperature and velocity were placed respectively on three dierent level sections evenly in LSJ1500 model spiral quick-freezer. Multichannel Anemomaster (Model 1560 with precision of 0.15 m s1 for 0.14.99 m s1, 0.3 m s1 for 5.09.99 m s1, 0.75 m s1 for 10.024.9 m s1 and 1.5 m s1 for 25.050.0 m s1) was adopted to measure the velocity. Hybrid Recorder (Model DR232 with precision of 0.05%) was adopted to measure the temperature. 3.2. Result analysis The mean temperature and velocity of the blasting air is 40.0  C and 12.0 m s1 individually, the energy consumed by the compressor and eight axial fans is 132.0 kW and 38.0 kW. 3.2.1. Uniform coecient of the freezing area Measurement results were shown in Tables 1 and 2. The measurement results show that when the steady operation condition is reached for the unloaded freezer, the temperature distribution in the freezing area is even, almost all temperatures are kept in the range of 38.0 38.3  C. The average temperature of the freezing area is 38.0  C, the biggest temperature dierence is 1.8  C, the standard deviation of the temperatures is 0.46  C, and the uniform coecient of the airow organisation is 0.012. The average velocity of the freezing is 2.39 m s1, the biggest dierence is 4.0 m s1, the standard deviation is 1.30 m s1, and the uniform coecient of airow organisation is 0.544. 3.2.2. Eciency of airow organisation The characteristic dimension of the frozen chicken of 0.05 m, the kinetic viscosity of the cooling air of 10106 m2 s1 and its thermal conductivity of 0.02 W m1  C1,

10

11

3. Uniform coecient of airow organisation: 8  < kt t t 12 : k u u u It is obvious that the uniform performance is higher if the values of kt and ku are smaller, and vice versa. The energy utilisation eciency is associated with the eciency of airow organisation to some degree. If the energy utilisation eciency is higher, the eciency of airow organisation is higher, if the eciency of airow organisation is lower; the energy utilisation eciency is lower. When the eciency of airow organisation is high but the energy utilisation eciency is low, it ensures that there are some problems with the body, entrance, exit, or refrigeration system.

3. Application of the performance indexes of quick freezers The LSJ1500 model spiral quick-freezer made in a company of China was taken as an example to illustrate the application of the evaluation indexes.

Table 1 Temperature results in freezing area of LSJ1500 T ( C) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 1 38.2 38.1 38.1 2 38.2 38.2 38.1 3 38.1 38.2 38.2 4 38.1 38.1 38.2 5 38.2 38.1 38.1 6 38.0 38.1 38.0 7 36.5 36.7 36.7 8 38.2 38.2 38.2 9 38.2 38.1 38.2 10 38.2 38.2 38.3

Z. Huan / International Journal of Refrigeration 26 (2003) 817822 Table 2 Velocity results in freezing area of LSJ1500 V (m s1) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 1 2.6 2.8 2.7 2 3.1 2.9 2.7 3 0.9 1.0 1.0 4 4.4 4.5 4.5 5 3.6 3.2 3.3 6 1.1 1.2 1.2 7 3.3 3.0 2.9 8 3.9 3.7 3.6 9 1.0 0.9 1.0 10 0.6 0.5 0.6

821

and the experimental co-relation of the convective heat transfer of Nu=0.148 Re0.643 are adopted [5,6]. Based on Reynolds number, Nusselt number relationship equations as well as the obtained results, the coecient of the convective heat transfer in the freezing area is =25.97 W m2  C1, the coecient of the convective heat transfer corresponding to the blasting velocity is =73.89 W m2  C1. Therefore the eciency of the airow organisation is f=33.4%. 3.2.3. Energy utilisation eciency The production rate for the red chicken from the initial temperature of 80  C to the nal temperature of 18  C is 750 kg per hour, the enthalpy dierence of the chicken is 395 kJ kg1 [7]. Combining with the measured results of energy consumed by fans and compressor at full load, the energy utilisation eciency of the spiral freezer is 51.4%. The calculated results show that the airow organization in LSJ1500 spiral quick-freezer has the even temperature distribution, uneven airow eld, low eciency of airow organisation, and the corresponding low energy utilisation eciency.

the airow organisation. The airow blockage and guide technology [8] was applied to the improved spiral quick-freezer named LSJ1500A. The temperature results (Table 3) show that the average air temperature in the freezing zone is 37.6  C, the biggest temperature dierence is 1.5  C, the standard deviation of the temperatures is 0.41  C, and the uniform coecient of temperature is 0.011. It has the same degree as LSJ1500 spiral quick-freezer. The velocity results (Table 4) show that the average velocity of the freezing is 7.07 m s1, the biggest dierence is 4.4 m s1, the standard deviation is 1.33 m s1, and the uniform coecient of airow organisation is 0.189, which is improved greatly compared to LSJ1500 spiral quick-freezer. Based on the obtained results, the corresponding coecient of the convective heat transfer in the freezing area is =52.44 W m2  C1, therefore the eciency of the airow organisation is f=66.7%, which is about twice of LSJ1500 spiral quick-freezer. The experimental results indicated that the average velocity in the freezing area was increased to 7.07 m s1 after the airow blockage and guide technologies were adopted, correspondingly the production rate was increased to 962 kg h1 due to the shortened freezing time. The input electricity power is almost the same as LSJ1500, therefore the energy utilisation eciency is: e GHi Ho 65:9% Wc Wf

4. Eect of airow blockage and guide technology on performance evaluation indexes of quick-freezers The measurement and analysis for LSJ1500 model spiral freezer shows that there are some problems with
Table 3 Temperature results in freezing area of LSJ1500A T ( C) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 1 38.1 38.4 37.7 2 37.5 37.8 38.2 3 37.4 37.6 37.2 4 37.9 38.2 37.6 5

the energy utilisation eciency was increased by 28.3%. The evaluation indexes comparisons were summarised in Table 5. Though freezers LSJ1500 and LSJ1500A have the same values of COP and refrigeration capacity, the values of energy utilization eciency are dierent. This is resulted from the dierent values of the eciency of airow organisation. Therefore, it is evident that the performance evaluation indexes can be used to evaluate

6 37.2 38.0 37.3

7 37.1 37.0 37.7

8 37.1 37.4 36.9

9 37.7 37.9 36.9

10 38.3 37.7 37.5

37.3 37.7 37.9

Table 4 Velocity results in freezing area of LSJ1500A V (m s ) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

1

1 7.8 8.4 8.3

2 7.4 6.5 6.4

3 4.7 5.3 5.3

4 8.4 9.1 8.9

5 7.6 8.4 8.2

6 5.7 5.2 5.4

7 8.5 7.8 8.1

8 8.2 8.9 7.7

9 5.9 6.0 6.2

10 6.0 5.8 5.9

Table 5 Comparison of the evaluation indexes for spiral quick-freezers Model of freezer LSJ1500 LSJ1500A T 0.012 0.011 u 0.544 0.189 f (%) 33.4 66.7 e (%) 51.4 65.9

822

Z. Huan / International Journal of Refrigeration 26 (2003) 817822

the performance, to compare the performance among dierent types of freezers, and to diagnose the existing problems in the freezers. The conventional evaluation indexes (COP and refrigeration capacity) cannot be replaced by the newly presented indexes. Their combination can be used to evaluate the refrigeration equipment comprehensively from the aspects of the energy utilisation eciency of the refrigeration equipment, refrigeration capacity, and the eciency of the refrigeration system (COP). e indicates the overall eciency (refrigeration production and utilisation) of the equipment, the refrigeration capacity indicates the maximum of the refrigeration production of the refrigeration system, and COP shows the eciency of the refrigeration system. The eciency of airow organisation and uniform coecient of airow organisation can be used to evaluate the performance of the airow organisation. The combination of the conventional and new indexes can be used to diagnose the existing problems in the refrigeration equipment.

design for blasting quick-freezers. The uniform coecient of airow organisation can be used to judge whether the airow organisation is designed reasonably for some special blasting freezers. The combination of the three indexes can be used to diagnose the existing problems for freezers.

Acknowledgements The author thanks the Committee of Science and Technology of Tianjin, China, for the nancial support.

References
[1] Zhang M. Liquid nitrogen ultra freezing technology. Refrigeration 1995;1. [2] International Institute of Refrigeration. Recommendations for the Processing and Handling of Frozen Foods. third ed. Paris: IIR; 1986. [3] Harrison MA, Bishop PJ. Parametric study of economical energy usage in freezing tunnels. International Journal of Refrigeration 1985;8(1). [4] Plank RB. Zur Berechnung and Bewertung der Gerfriergesch Windigkeit Von Lebersmitteln Z ges Kalteind. Beih Reihe 1941;10(3). [5] Tocci AM, Mascheroni RH. Determination of heat transfer coecient and freezing times of meatballs in blast freezers. In: Progress in the science and technology of refrigeration in food engineering. IIR; 1990. [6] Tocci AM, et al. Freezing times of meat balls in belt freezers: experimental determination and prediction by dierent methods. International Journal of Refrigeration 1994;17(7). [7] Kang J. Quick-freezing technology. Chinese Economic Press; 1998. [8] Huan Z. Study on airow organisation and freezing process of foods in the spiral quick-freezer. Dissertation, Tianjin University, China, 2000.

5. Conclusion The new improvement idea for refrigeration equipment, which is to improve the eciency of refrigeration utilisation besides to enhance the COP of the refrigeration system, was suggested. Three performance evaluation indexes were established to compare the performance for dierent quick freezers and to diagnose the existing problems for quick freezers, and were proved to be the eective tools in practice. Energy utilisation eciency is an important index that can be applied to evaluating and comparing the performance for all kinds of quick-freezers. Eciency of airow organisation can be used to evaluate the quality of the airow organisation and the technology level of