FARS

About

Flint Active refrigeration shelf – FARS Overview The FARS has been developed with Brunel University to help address to issues common with retail refrigeration display cabinets. 1. High energy usage with associated CO2 production 2. Inconsistent food temperature across the cabinet leading to excessive food waste It has been recognised that the development of the FARS must not only address the technical issue above but must also be done in a way that meets the following commercial challenges. 1. Be retrofit-able into the existing estate of chillers 2. Allow for easy change of shelf locations to reflect the multiple products displayed on them 3. Be cost effective to provide the retailers with a commercial advantage from using them. Currently chilling is achieved within refrigeration cabinets by the forcing of cold air around the cabinet and across the food. The FARS solution enhances this process by adding a further three cooling methods. 1. Conduction The FARS is actively cooled and as such has a lower temperature than the products displayed on it. The variation in temperature increases the cooling effect on the products. 2. Convection between the food and the bottom surface of the shelf that is located above the food 3. Radiation, heat transfer from the food to the cold surfaces of the heat pipe shelves. To meet the challenges set by existing refrigeration the FARS looks at actively transferring cooling to out across the shelves. In this way the shelves not only serve as a method of supporting food but also become part of the refrigeration process. This is achieved by putting a condenser into the air flow at the rear of the cabinet and then using the novel heat mat technology of the FARS to transfer this cooling into the main body of the cabinet.