Ejector and Air Cycle Refrigeration Technologies for Foods

Food refrigeration is an important part of the modern day food industry. It is used in all stages of the chain, from food processing, to distribution, retail and final consumption in the home. The food industry employs both chilling and freezing processes, and in these processes mechanical refrigeration technologies are invariably employed that contributes significantly to the environmental impacts of the food sector both through direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce these emissions, research and development worldwide is aimed at both improving the performance of conventional systems and the development of new refrigeration technologies of potentially much lower environmental impacts. This paper provides a brief review of both current state of the art technologies and emerging ejector and air cycle refrigeration technologies that have the potential to reduce the environmental impacts of refrigeration in the food industry.