China Collaboration

RD&T's Alan Foster is currently spending a month in China working with Professor Ruhe Xie at Guangzhou University.  Professor Xie's work focuses on refrigerated transport and his University has some unique facilities available for research.  One of these is a specialised test facility to simulate containers during transit, in which surrounding air speeds of up to 80 mph can be produced.  Alan is currently working with the team in Guangzhou to carry out tests on infiltration into containers and to model the effects of infiltration using Computational Fluid Dynamics.

As well as research work Alan has been able to take part in several seminars and workshops, including a cold logistics event organised by the United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA).  The cold chain in China is rapidly developing and opportunities exist to assist the Chinese in upgrading their current facilities and infrastructure. The Chinese government has invested about 500 billion dollars into the economy to make up for the lack of exports due to the economic recession.  This is primarily being spent on improving infrastructure and has resulted in growth of about 8% this year.

In the UK and Europe there is substantial expertise on temperature control and cold chain operations and therefore there would appear to be substantial opportunities to collaborate and transfer technology and knowledge. Much of the work at RD&T is aimed at improving temperature control and reducing energy consumption whilst still maintaining optimal food quality in the cold chain. We would therefore be keen to discuss joint collaborations with other organisations and individuals who are interested in developing targeted technology transfer activities.

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