The charcoal cooling blanket: A scalable, simple, self-supporting evaporative cooling device for preserving fresh foods

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2023.12.001
• Publication Date: 2024-01-25T15:05:40Z
• Authors: Thijs Defraeye; Seraina Schudel; Chandrima Shrivas...; Thomas Motmans; Kingsley Umani; Eleonora Crenna; Kanaha Shoji; Daniel Onwude
• Keywords: Evaporative cooler; Charcoal; Wet-bulb temperature

Evaporative cooling is a technology that has potential to help preserve fresh produce after harvest. This passive solution particularly interesting for marginal and smallholder farmers in remote, off-grid areas. coolers are rarely deployed these scenarios because there lack of simple, affordable, small-scale systems. A charcoal blanket been designed tested as an alternative evaporative cooler. The can be made any size from locally-sourced materials such hessian, or other biodegradable textiles. cost the scales quasi-linearly with length blanket. semi-self-supporting several compartments hold charcoal, material commonly used coolers. It throughout fresh-produce supply chain. In laboratory experiments, cooled air fruit temperatures by 5 °C below ambient (23 °C) at 40% relative humidity. temperature was 2–3 above wet-bulb temperature. humidity inside 56 l cooler 85–95 %. field 600 also achieved reduction outside construct have carbon footprint 15 kg [CO2-eq] m−2. environmental impact operating charcoal-blanket storage room 33 m3 therefore 200 times lower than similar-sized commercial refrigeration unit 14 d period, which common period many fruits vegetables.