Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40185867›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Influence of pallet height on energy consumption and cooling effectiveness in an apple cold storage.

Leo Daniel Alexander, Sanjeev Jakhar, Mani Sankar Dasgupta

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Leo Daniel AlexanderSmart Building Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, 333031, India. leo.daniel@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in.
Sanjeev JakharSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, 600127, Tamil Nadu, India. sanjeevj450@gmail.com.
Mani Sankar DasguptaSmart Building Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, 333031, India.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of pallet height on energy consumption and cooling effectiveness using a validated cold storage model based on CFD simulations. The model was validated against experimental temperature data, with a maximum normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) of 4.57%, indicating good agreement. Four pallet height configurations namely No pallet (0.0 m), 0.3 m, 0.6 m, and 0.9 m were assessed over a 40-hour cooling period. Temperature distribution within apple-filled crates was used to identify the locations of hot and cold spots, and performance metrics such as compressor energy consumption, specific energy consumption, mean crate temperature, thermal heterogeneity, and cooling effectiveness were analyzed. The results indicate that the No-pallet configuration disrupts airflow resulting in insufficient cooling, as evidenced by lower cooling effectiveness, while larger pallet heights (0.6 m and 0.9 m) introduce excessive air spacing resulting in higher thermal heterogeneity. The 0.3 m pallet height exhibited best performance such as lowest mean crate temperature of 4.7 °C, (8.7% lower), lowest thermal heterogeneity of 3.29 (14.42% lower), lowest compressor energy consumption per kelvin of 1.474 kWh/K (0.5% lower) and highest cooling effectiveness of 0.4 (5.37% higher). These findings provide practical insights for optimizing pallet configurations in cold storage, aiding energy-efficient operations in commercial refrigerated warehouses and post-harvest supply chains.

Indexed as

Cold storageComputational fluid dynamicsPorous mediumPost harvestThermal heterogeneity

Identifiers

PMID40185867
PMCPMC11971335

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.