Towards sustainability in cold chains : development of a quality, energy and environmental assessment tool (QEEAT)

Quantification of the impact of refrigeration technologies in terms of the quality of refrigerated food, energy usage, and environmental impact is essential to assess cold chain sustainability. In this paper, we present a software tool QEEAT (Quality, Energy and Environmental Assessment Tool) for evaluating refrigeration technologies. As a starting point, a reference product was chosen for the different main food categories in the European cold chain. Software code to predict the products temperature, based on validated heat and mass transfer models, were written in Matlab (The Mathworks Inc., Natick, USA). Also, based on validated kinetic models for the different quality indicators of the reference products, (including fruit, meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products) a software code was written to calculate the quality and safety evolutions of the food product, using the predicted product temperature as input. Finally, software code to calculate the energy usage and Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) value of different refrigeration technologies was also written in Matlab. All three software codes were integrated, and a graphical user interface was developed. Using the QEEAT, a user can tailor a cold chain scenario by adding cold chain blocks (different steps of a cold chain) and simulating the quality evolution, energy use and emission throughout the chain. Also, the user can modify properties of a cold chain block, by selecting different technologies, or changing set point values. Defaults are provided for input values, and are based on the current practice, and obtained by extensive literature studies and consultation with different experts of the cold chain. Furthermore, the user can build and simulate several chains simultaneously, allowing him/her to compare different chains with respect to quality, energy and emission.