Towards net-zero manufacture of chilled/refrigerated foods - the case of ready meals

The Food Industry is the largest manufacture sector in the UK's and the fourth

highest industrial energy user. To contribute to the achievement of UK's zero-

carbon emissions targets by 2050, it is critical to act on those hotspots for energy

demand and/or GHG emissions. One of these potential areas of action is the food

cold chain - the manufacture and distribution of frozen, refrigerated and chilled

foods is energy intensive and often involves the use of high-GWP (Global

Warming Potential) refrigerants.

In this context, this project aims to identify those food manufacturing scenarios

that would lead to successful strategies for the transition to net-zero food supply

chains focusing on chilled foods (e.g., ready meal foods), and working in

partnership with Samworth Brothers. The project will combine techno-economic,

environmental and/or policy aspects in an integrated approach for the design and

evaluation of decarbonisation solutions, focusing on the comparison of different

manufacturing paradigms - i.e., centralized vs. distributed manufacture - for

specific ready meals, as exemplar of chilled/refrigerated foods. This approach is

based on the development and implementation of suitable simulation/optimisation

and decision-making tools, for which a high level of engineering and

computational competence, coupled with adequate knowledge of (bio)process

systems is desirable.