摘要: Boxes of perishable foods and pharmaceuticals are traditionally shipped using expanded polystyrene (EPS) containers and frozen gel packs. EPS is an effective thermal insulator; however, polystyrene use has disadvantages including environmental problems during production and disposal, large storage area needed, and fragility of containers. Reflectix, Inc. has developed a series of food shipping packages that address these disadvantages. The products are flexible, aluminum foil laminated bubble packs with multiple layers of foil and/or bubble pack. The aluminum foil layer reflects 97% of radiant heat, and the bubble pack resists conductive heat flow.Our objectives were to determine: 1) the thermal insulating characteristics of the bubble-foil package designs for conditions simulating those in food shipping, and 2) the most efficient material configuration to maximize thermal insulation.