To the Department "Thermal and Refrigeration Engineering" a research laboratory "Cooling and Freezing" (headed by Senior Assistant Engineer Kostadin Fikiin), which for many years has been developing projects within the National Implementation Strategy, mainly funded by the European Union's framework programmes for research, technological development and demonstration activities, as well as by the EU programme for competitiveness and innovation. Since 2004, the Laboratory has also served as a National Contact Point to the Ministry of Education and Science for the 6th and 7th EU Framework Programmes in the fields of food, agricultural sciences and biotechnology. The Laboratory works in close cooperation with international organizations and scientific networks such as the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), the Global Cold Chain Alliance, the International Refrigeration Academy, the European Association for Refrigerated Storage and Logistics, the European Federation of Food Science and Technology, the Confederation of the Refrigeration and Beverage Industry of the EU, and the European Technology Platforms "Animal Feed" and "Renewable Heating and Cooling", The European Group for Hygienic Engineering and Design, Flair-Flow Europe, BIO-NET, and others.
The laboratory has worked (as part of international consortia including academic, research, and industrial centers from across Europe) on dozens of projects, including: "Modeling of thermal properties and behavior of foods during production, storage, and distribution", "A new efficient technology for individual quick freezing of foods using hydrofluidization", "Network architecture for wind power generation through energy storage and load shifting in industrial cold storage facilities", "Improvement of cold storage equipment in Europe" and many others.
The Cooling and Freezing Laboratory has been the organizer of numerous international and national scientific and technical events, for example:
- International Conference on Refrigeration and Air Conditioning "Achievements in Refrigeration Systems, Food Technologies, and the Cold Chain", 1998.
- European Symposium EUROFREEZE: Individual quick freezing of food products, 2005
- Third Central European Congress on Food Technology, 2006
- 9th International Conference of the ICM on Materials and Phase Change Suspensions for Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 2010
as well as a series of educational seminars such as "Advanced Sensor Devices for Online Monitoring of Food Quality", "The HACCP System and Food Safety", "Genetically Modified Organisms and Food", National professional consultations and information days, etc.
Head:
MSc Eng. Kostadin Fikiin, Sr. Researcher I
Email:
k.fikiin@tu-sofia.bgPhone: 02 965-3322
Office: 2221-A
