Abstract: A plurality of special pallets aligned end to end in two rows on the floor of an insulated transport container form a false floor with fluid conduits therebelow. Each of the special pallets is a single piece casting of plastic material with a thin solid top, three spaced-apart runners attached below the top, end braces attached to the pallet ends, and a horizontal reinforcing web supporting the top. Voids extending between the runners are aligned to form four fluid conduits from the front of the container to its rear. A pan or false ceiling is suspended from the container ceiling to form a sprinkler plenum between the pan and the ceiling. Chilled water is pumped into the sprinkler plenum, and sprinkled through regularly spaced holes in the pan onto vegetation stacked on the false floor. Water sprinkled onto the vegetation drains through slits in the pallet tops into the fluid conduits and flows therethrough to a drain at the rear of the container.

Abstract: Fresh produce is loaded into an enclosed trailer, and the doors closed. Chilled water is pumped through overhead sprinkler pipes to chill the product to about 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Liquid nitrogen is used to maintain the trailer cold during transit and storage. Nitrogen tanks within the trailer are filled during the water chill operation. The nitrogen tanks are bled during the filling operation and the bled nitrogen extends through expansion tubes which are located co-axially within the water sprinkler tubes in the ceiling. From there the nitrogen is fed through exhaust pipes along the floor of the transport to purge the product of atmosphere and respiration gases. During transport, the liquid nitrogen is fed into the overhead expansion tubes for refrigeration and again the evaporated nitrogen is fed to the exhaust pipes along the floor to purge the product of respiration gases and to maintain the product oxygen-free.

Abstract: Vegetation is hydro-cooled, and purged of oxygen-containing air while in an enclosed trailer. Although the trailer itself has doors pivoted over an opening at the rear, the hydro-cooling process occurs while the trailer is backed against an alcove. The alcove has an air seal around the opening in the trailer. Chilled water from a refrigeration unit is sprinkled from a sprinkler built into the top of the trailer onto the vegetation. The water, after flowing over the vegetation, runs out the rear of the trailer into a drain, which is located in the floor of the alcove. To remove the oxygen within the trailer to a minimum, a nitrogen cap is maintained over the chilled water reservoirs and heat exchangers of the refrigeration unit so that oxygen from the air will not dissolve into the cooling water. To purge the oxygen from the trailer, while being hydro-cooled, nitrogen is released within the trailer beneath the vegetation.

Abstract: Fresh produce is loaded into an enclosed trailer, and the doors closed. Chilled water is pumped through overhead sprinkler pipes to chill the product to about 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The excess water is drained through a special drain at the bottom of the trailer. Liquid nitrogen is used to maintain the trailer cold during transit and storage. Nitrogen tanks within the trailer are filled during the water chill operation. The nitrogen tanks are bled during the filling operation and the bled nitrogen extends through expansion tubes which are located co-axially within the water sprinkler tubes in the ceiling. From there the nitrogen is fed through exhaust pipes along the floor of the transport to purge the product of atmosphere and more particularly to purge it of respiration gases. During transport, the liquid nitrogen is fed into the overhead expansion tubes for refrigeration and again the evaporated nitrogen is fed to the exhaust pipes along the floor to purge the product of respiration gases.