{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:19:17Z","timestamp":1760059157343,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,22]],"date-time":"2025-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1747872000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Baima Lake Laboratory Joint Funds of the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["LBMHY24E060013","88205031"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LBMHY24E060013","88205031"]}]},{"name":"funds for the construction of first-class disciplines","award":["LBMHY24E060013","88205031"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LBMHY24E060013","88205031"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Symmetry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Numerical simulation has become a pivotal tool for analyzing airflow dynamics and temperature patterns during the precooling of postharvest horticultural products stacked in vented package. In this study, a three-dimensional mathematical model for iceberg lettuces stacked symmetrically in plastic crate was developed. The influence of the physical model at different gap sizes on the simulation accuracy was studied by assessing wall drag coefficient, airflow distribution, and heat transfer efficiency. The results show a reasonable decrease in the drag coefficient with an increasing gap size to 6 mm in terms of airflow distribution inside the plastic crate; any further increase in gap size and the average airflow velocity in both windward and leeward sides decreases rapidly. Interestingly, the gap size exhibited a limited impact on heat transfer characteristics during the cooling process. Thus, 6 mm was found to be the optimal distance to ensure good accuracy in simulation results and reduce the complexity of grid division. The numerical model was verified by experimental data. Moreover, the validation confirms good consistency between the simulated predictions and experimental measurements. This study provides a theoretical basis for establishing a reliable numerical model for the precooling of agricultural produce stacked symmetrically in a vented package.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/sym17060810","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,22]],"date-time":"2025-05-22T12:15:43Z","timestamp":1747916143000},"page":"810","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Study of Numerical Modeling Method for Precooling of Spherical Horticultural Produce Stacked Symmetrically in Vented Package"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Xifang","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China"},{"name":"Belarus Joint Laboratory of Intelligent Equipment and System for Water Conservancy and Hydropower Safety Monitoring, Hangzhou 310018, China"}]},{"given":"Zhongyang","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhejiang Dunan Cold Chain System Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310051, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1254-1168","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chuanhui","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4388-7233","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hongbin","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Feng, K.X., Feng, X.L., Tan, W.J., Zheng, Q.H., Zhong, W.T., Liao, C.Y., Liu, Y.T., Li, S.J., and Hu, W.Z. 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