Enhanced heat transfer in a refrigerated container using an airflow optimized refrigeration unit

Abstract

The present study numerically investigates the airflow and heat transfer characteristics in a conventional refrigerated container (CRC), and an improved refrigerated container (IRC) loaded with cargoes by modeling the refrigeration unit and the cargoes in the container as porous media. The IRC design is based on a previous study by the current authors, where the airflow in the refrigerated container was enhanced by improving the refrigeration unit design. The airflow inside the refrigerated container is simulated by using the fan pressure jump boundary conditions at the location of the evaporator fans in the refrigeration unit. The CRC and IRC are simulated for three fan pressure jump conditions of 50, 100, and 150 Pa. Initially, the airflow and heat transfer results under 50 Pa fan pressure jump condition are compared for CRC and IRC to estimate the enhanced heat transfer in IRC. Then, the behavior of the heat transfer characteristics in CRC and IRC under increasing fan pressure jump conditions is studied by comparing the results of CRC and IRC under the three fan pressure jump conditions. Results show that the heat transfer and the temperature homogeneity of the cargoes in IRC are significantly improved due to the enhanced airflow by the improved design of the refrigeration unit in IRC.