Abstract

Turkey farming and meat processing are fast-developing areas of the Russian food industry. However, their development requires more advanced methods of meat storage and freezing. Traditional methods of air cooling often fail to preserve the original meat texture and nutritional value. This paper introduces a new refrigeration unit with CO2 as a refrigerant. CO2 snow and gas come in direct contact with turkey carcasses, thus accelerating the cooling process and improving the meat quality. CO2 recirculation makes the refrigeration unit an economical solution to environmental issues. The refrigeration unit included a conveyor system, a vacuum chamber, and a CO2 circulation system.
The research featured grade 1 turkey carcasses of 2.7 ± 0.1 kg frozen at different temperatures (–30, –50, and –70°C) and CO2 flux rates (0–5 m/s). The share of CO2 in the gas mix was ≥ 50%. The temperature and heat flux density were measured using thermocouples and heat flux probes.
As the temperature dropped from –30 to –70°C, the freezing time decreased from 48 to 33 min and to 29 min when the experiment involved enforced convection. The amount of CO2 consumed increased from 7.5 to 13.5 kg without convection and from 6.5 to 12.0 kg with enforced convection. Compared to traditional methods, CO2 provided uniform freezing and reduced mechanical damage to the meat structure.
The newly developed refrigeration unit with recirculated CO2 demonstrated high efficiency in freezing turkey meat while reducing CO2 consumption and providing uniform cooling of the carcass. It demonstrated could prospects for industrial use, which opens up new opportunities for further research and freezing process optimization.

Keywords

Refrigeration, CO2 recirculation, quick freezing, convection, turkey meat, meat processing

FUNDING

The research was part of a comprehensive scientific innovative program initiated by Russian Federation Government Decree No. 1144-r, May 11, 2022: Developing and implementing new technologies in the E&P of solid minerals, industrial safety, bioremediation, and product development of deep coal processing: A consistent reduction of environmental impact and hazards (Agreement No. 075-15-2022-1201, September 30, 2022).

REFERENCES

1. Kálmán Á, Szőllősi L. Global Tendencies in turkey meat production, trade and consumption. Acta Agraria Debreceniensis. 2023;(2):83–89. https://doi.org/10.34101/actaagrar/2/12594
2. Zimnyakov VM, Varlamova YeN. The state and prospects of turkey meat production. Niva Povolzhya. 2017;(4):55–62. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/ZTIEKD
3. Askerov PF, Rabadanov AR, Kibirov KG, Tolparov EB, Bondarenko OV, et al. Role and importance of turkey meat production in poultry farming in Russia: Prospects for further development. Entomology and Applied Science Letters. 2021;8(3):15–20. https://doi.org/10.51847/IE9jQz8ugz
4. Nastasevich I, Lakitsevich B, Petrovich Z. Cold chain management in meat supplies: Old vs. new strategies. Theory and Practice of Meat Processing. 2017;2(4):20–34. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21323/2414-438X-2017-2-4-20-34
5. Meretukova FN, Abregova NV. Quality indicators of semi-finished sous-vide products from turkey meat. New Technologies. 2021;17(2):48–55. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.47370/2072-0920-2021-17-2-48-55
6. Shakhnazarova LV, Stefanova IL, Klimenkova AYu. Use of turkey meat for the production of specialized food. Bird and poultry products. 2022;(4):64–68. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30975/2073-4999-2022-24-4-64-68
7. Solaesa AG, García-Barroso C, Romero C, González C, Jiménez P, et al. Nutritional composition and technological properties determining the quality of different cuts of organic and conventional Turkey meat. Poultry Science. 2024;103(12):104331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.104331
8. Russian turkey farming: confident growth continues. Scientific and practical journal for managers and specialists of the agro-industrial complex. [cited 2025 Apr 30] (In Russ.) Available from: https://zzr.ru/zzr-2025-03-001
9. Ishevsky AL, Davydov IA. Freezing as a method of food preservation. Theory and Practice of Meat Processing. 2017;2(2):43–59. https://doi.org/10.21323/2414-438X-2017-2-2-43-59
10. Anisimova KV, Protopopova KA, Spiridonov AB, Ipatova AF, Stepanova TO. Development of a laboratory installation for freezing meat, fish and fruit. AgroEcoInfo. 2023;(1):34. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/XZTIYG
11. Ikram A, Arshad MT, Maqsood S, Safdar SZ, Rasheed A, et al. Modern approaches for ensuring the safety and integrity of frozen foods: An overview. Food and Agricultural Immunology. 2025;36(1):2491594. https://doi.org/10. 1080/09540105.2025.2491594
12. Dang DS, Bastarrachea LJ, Martini S, Matarneh SK. Crystallization behavior and quality of frozen meat. Foods. 2021;10(11):2707. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112707
13. Young-Chan Y, Honggyun K, Karna R, Geun-Pyo H. Evaluation of the relationship between freezing rate and quality characteristics to establish a new standard for the rapid freezing of pork. Food Science of Animal Resources. 2021;41(6):1012–1021. https://doi.org/10.5851/kosfa.2021.e52
14. Maina P, Huan Z. A review of carbon dioxide as a refrigerant in refrigeration technology. South African Journal of Science. 2015;111(9/10):10. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2015/20140258
15. Barta RB, Groll EA, Ziviani D. Review of stationary and transport CO2 refrigeration and air conditioning technologies. Applied Thermal Engineering. 2021;185:116422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.116422
16. Boupda O, Tessemo H, Fongang I, Nyami F, Lontsi F, et al. A review on technologies for the use of CO2 as a working fluid in refrigeration and power cycles. Energy and Power Engineering. 2024;16(6):217–256. https://doi.org/10.4236/epe.2024.166011
17. Loktionov DG. Auto-refrigeration units on carbon dioxide. Scientific and Technical Support of Refrigeration Industry: Conf. proceedings. All-Russian Research Institute of Refrigeration Industry. Moscow, 2010;92–95. (In Russ.). https://elibrary.ru/RSDWYP
18. Shao L-L, Zhang C-L. Thermodynamic transition from subcritical to transcritical CO2 cycle. International Journal of Refrigeration. 2016;64:123–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2016.01.018
19. Sharma DK, Hazarika MM, Ramgopal M. The optimum discharge pressure of CO2-based refrigeration cycles operating under subcritical and transcritical conditions. International Journal of Ambient Energy. 2023;44(1):1232–1242. https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2023.2171483
20. Neverov EN, Korotky IA, Plotnikov IB, Korotkiy PS, Kozhaev AA. The study of the parameters of the heat transfer process at carbon dioxide sublimation. Bulletin of KSAU. 2020;(6):215–222. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.36718/1819-4036-2020-6-215-222
21. Ji H, Pei J, Cai J, Ding C, Guo F, et al. Review of recent advances in transcritical CO2 heat pump and refrigeration cycles and their development in the vehicle field. Energies. 2023;16(10):4011. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16104011
22. Burak LCh. Prospects for the use of supercritical carbon dioxide technology in the food industry. Subject field overview. Polzunovskiy vestnik. 2025;(1):32–50. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25712/ASTU.2072-8921.2025.01.004
23. Tosato G, Minetto S, Rossetti A, Hafner A, Schlemminger C, et al. Field data of CO2 integrated refrigeration, heating, and cooling systems for supermarkets. Proceedings of the 14th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen Conf. on Natural Refrigerants. Kyoto, 2020:1162. https://doi.org/10.18462/iir.gl.2020.1162
24. Panão MRO, Franco PAG, Costa JJ. Effect of atomizer geometry on particle formation in dry-ice sprays. International Journal of Multiphase Flow. 2020;130:103358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2020.103358