Industry survey on the pressure drop across palletised horticulture produce during precooling.

The pressure drops across palletised kiwifruit and apple pallets generated in commercially operated precoolers in New Zealand were surveyed. The measured data were widely spread across the precoolers and facilities. Overall, precoolers for kiwifruit exhibited lower pressure drops than what is generally recommended, but those for apple pre-coolers were within the range. From the surveyed data, baseline information about the current operating state of commercial precoolers can be utilized to improve their performance. Secondly, similar conditions which are currently used within the industry can be established to conduct smaller scale experimental work in the lab environment. Lastly, numerical models including CFD models can be operated in industry realistic conditions as indicated by the collected industry data.