Optimizing ATP Isothermal Tests: A Theoretical and Experimental Approach
Juan P. Martínez-Val Piera, Alberto Ramos Millán
TL;DR
This paper improves the ATP isothermal test for refrigerated containers by reducing test time and increasing accuracy through a new scientific protocol.
Contribution
A revised ATP test protocol is proposed, combining theory and experiments to reduce test duration and measurement uncertainty.
Findings
The new protocol reduces test duration from 18 hours to 2 hours while maintaining thermal stabilization.
Measurement uncertainty for the heat-transfer coefficient K is reduced from 2–2.3% to 0.7–1.0%.
The protocol eliminates secondary effects like air leakage and evaporation, improving measurement accuracy.
Abstract
The International Agreement on the Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to Be Used for Such Carriage (usually known as ATP Treaty) defines a standardized isothermal test for qualifying refrigerated containers, but its current protocol is lengthy, costly and lacks scientific justification. This paper presents a combined theoretical and experimental study aimed at optimizing this procedure. First, a heat-transfer framework based on transient conduction and thermal diffusivity is developed to estimate stabilization times using dimensionless criteria. Then, extensive experimental tests on ATP containers validate these predictions and reveal additional phenomena such as air leakage and chimney effects. Based on these findings, a revised protocol is proposed that reduces the test duration from more than 18 h to approximately 2 h while preserving the thermal…
Genes, proteins, chemicals, diseases, species, mutations and cell lines named across the full text — each resolved to its canonical identifier and authoritative record.
Click any figure to enlarge with its caption.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 17
Figure 18
Figure 19
Figure 20
Figure 21
Figure 22
Figure 23Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsFood Supply Chain Traceability · Hygrothermal properties of building materials · Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technologies