METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RIPENING PERISHABLE PRODUCTS IN A TEMPERATURE-CONTROLLED ROOM

摘要

A ripening room design is provided in which bananas, in one embodiment, are tightly stacked in the operational space (152) of a ripening room (8) and a central cooler or refrigeration system is placed in the rear of the ripening room behind a wall. Features of the ripening room include an air distribution ceiling having a "V"-shaped air distributor (138) to encourage uniform air pressure along the tops and sides of the banana boxes throughout the entire room, a very precise, smooth temperature setpoint controller, and an air mixing chamber that acts as a "cooling transformer" which provides for an energy-efficient temperature transfer of cooling air from a cooled air circuit of relatively small volume to a larger volume of air that circulates through the bananas. As many or as few of these features can be used individually or in combination to achieve desirable results.