Abstract: Food stuffs transported in trolleys are cooled on board of an aircraft directly in the trolley which has a heat exchange surface connected to a secondary coolant flow circuit in the trolley. When the trolley is parked in a parking space for example in an aircraft galley, the heat exchange surface of the trolley is in heat exchange contact with a heat exchanger connected to a central primary refrigerant circuit including a refrigerating unit (4). The heat exchange surface of the trolley and a heat exchange surface of the heat exchanger are connected to separate refrigerant circulating circuit, whereby leaks are avoided while the direct surface contact between the two heat exchange surfaces assures a substantially improved efficiency in the heat exchange.

Abstract: A refrigeration system for cooling foodstuffs in an aircraft body having a deck and a space (26) below the deck, uses a surface type heat exchanger (7) positioned for a heat exchange with the environment of the aircraft. A catering container (1) is constructed as a cooler box, and at least one refrigeration device (21) is exchangeably mounted in the space below the deck. The refrigeration device (21) is equipped with at least one modular refrigeration unit (6) connected through respective pipes or conduits (8, 9) to the surface type heat exchanger (7). The refrigeration device (21) is connected by further conduit means (3, 10) to the cooler box (1). The temperature difference between inside and outside of the aircraft is efficiently used for the refrigeration.