Numerical modelling and validation of the air flow maldistribution in the cooling duct of a horizontal display cabinet

Abstract

Air maldistribution strongly affects the performance of Open Refrigerated Display Cabinets (ORDC). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be a useful approach to model both causes and effects of air-side maldistributions. One of the main drawbacks is the complexity of the resulting model and the high computational costs. In this paper, a numerical model of the air channel of an ORDC is presented and validated. The numerical set up was oriented to reduce the computational load, while maintaining a good agreement with experimental PIV data. Results highlighted the great importance of the correct set up of the inlet boundary and of the evaporator volume description. In addition, the modelling of the flow transition from turbulent to laminar inside the evaporator volume was proven to be critical to obtain a correct wake description downstream the evaporator.