Design and experimental analysis of condensate pan for plug-in refrigerated display cabinets: Improving drying efficiency

Abstract

Plug-in refrigerated display cabinets (PRDCs) that can be used in different locations in the supermarket have a condensate pan where the water formed after defrosting accumulated in the cabinet, do not require a connection to a fixed drainage system, and work with the plug-and-play principle. In existing PRDCs, defrost water is absorbed by antibacterial fabrics in a condensate pan and dried by hot air flow heated by heat discharged from the condenser within the fabric. In addition, when needed, electrical resistance in a condensate pan is activated, accelerating the removal of defrost water by evaporation. In this study, it was aimed to design a condensation pan that shortens the operating time of electrical resistances by providing high heat and mass transfer for PRDCs. A new condensate pan has been designed, which allows the air coming out of the condenser to be directed to the fabrics and also has a structure that will increase the heat and mass transfer with the fabric arrangement. A prototype of the condensate pan was produced and integrated into the PRDCs. Then, the existing and new systems were tested by the following ISO 23953–2:2015 standard to analyze the effects of a new design. With the new design, it was observed that the velocity of the hot air flow discharged from the condenser increased, heat and mass transfer increased, and the drying time of antibacterial fabrics was reduced by 15.85%. As a result of the analysis, it was calculated that the antibacterial fabric drying efficiency was 6.29% higher when the new design was compared with the existing design, thus, a PRDC, in which energy is used more effectively, was revealed with the new design. Thanks to the new design condensate pan, a 5.91% reduction in electricity consumption was observed compared to the existing design. As a result, an inventive condensate pan has been revealed that successfully eliminates the water generated during defrosting while also boosting drying capacities and energy efficiency via the employment of straightforward and useful techniques.