Controlled reefers in the banana supply chain: energy reduction and quality preservation

Abstract

Bananas are the fourth most eaten product in the world. In Europe almost 4 million tonnes of bananas are consumed every year. These bananas need to be imported from plantations in, among others, Latin America. Due to the perishable nature of bananas the transport from plantation to Europe is done in cooled reefer containers. During transport the considered ripening stage is the green life period because of its ability to be influenced by external factors. The ripening rate within the green life period is largely dependent on temperature. Energy consumption for cooling is dependent on temperature. The current cooling strategy is keeping temperatures as low as possible without damaging the bananas, which asks for maximum energy consumption. This article proposes a cooling strategy which results in higher temperatures inside the container with the goal to minimize energy consumption which ultimately results in lower transport costs. In this article a model is developed to combine biological and logistical features of the banana supply chain. To assure right quality, continuous monitoring inside a reefer is used to check the ripening process and detect disturbances in ripening rate. To cope with the disturbances and delays in the supply chain a controller is designed which can adjust temperature during the journey. This is done to adjust the ripening rate and make sure the bananas reach the customer at the right quality at the right time while using up to 10% less energy than conventional cooling strategies.