Conference Year

2016

Keywords

Thermal performance, Refrigerated display cabinet, CFD, Refrigeration, Numerical study

Abstract

The use of computational tools for engineering troubleshooting and new product development has increased significantly in recent years. Computational Fluid Dynamics is used in the field of commercial refrigeration for more than 10 years for the development and improvement of equipment. Vertical open multideck refrigerated display cabinets (VORDC) are widely used to expose perishables in supermarkets and convenience stores. This paper reports the numerical results of a series of CFD simulations of a VORDC to predict the best air mass flow between the discharge air grille (DAG) and the perforated back panel (PBP) and also the relationship of air mass flow between the Primary Air Curtain (PAC) and Secondary Air Curtain (SAC) of the dual air curtain system of the VORDC. The simulations were developed for a VORDC to evaluate the thermal performance varying the width of the DAG and the hole density of PBP. The numerical results show that the hole density of PBP and the width of the DAG significantly change the thermal entrainment and energy consumption of equipment. The best configuration showed a 10% reduction of the cooling load. The results analysis provides valuable information to develop better thermal and energy-performer VORDC taking into account usual in-store conditions.

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