Climatized packing house with evaporative coolers - Part 2: Geostatistical mapping

ABSTRACT The acclimatization of packing houses is essential for human well-being, and, as it is a production environment, it is desirable that environmental variables are homogeneous. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the environment in the selection and packaging area of a climate-controlled grape packing house with an evaporative cooling system, characterizing the spatial thermal variability and identifying critical control points. The climatic variables temperature, relative humidity and wind speed were analyzed, at 10:00, 13:00 and 15:00 h during the dry and rainy seasons. Two treatments were evaluated: with evaporative coolers switched on and switched off. The spatial distribution of the variables was mapped by kriging. The evaporative cooling system improved the thermal conditions in the selection and packaging area of the packing house but did not ensure homogenization. Critical points were identified at the beginning of the processing line, in a region further away from the coolers. The use of geostatistics and kriging maps made it possible to identify the spatial variability of climatic attributes and localize problematic regions, which allowed targeted corrections to be made to the factors that compromise human thermal comfort.