Product temperature control during the cold chain is essential for the preservation of its quality and the reduction of food waste. For cheese like soft cheese, the metabolism of the microorganism generates heat. This study aims to investigate experimentally the influence of heat generation by cheese inside a ventilated pallet on cooling rate and heterogeneity. An experimental device, consisting of a cheese pallet in a cold room, was used. The cheese was replaced by plaster cylinders equipped with electric resistances to represent the heat generation of the product.

The experiments were conducted under unsteady state at an upwind air velocity of 0.25m/s with and without heat generation (1.2W/kg). The results show that heat generation lowers the seven-eighths cooling time (SECT) of the product. The natural convection induced by heat generation helps to cool the product faster toward the equilibrium temperature, but this one is higher than the one of cooling air.