Parametric evaluation of refrigerated air curtains for thermal insulation

Abstract The refrigerated air curtain used for cavity insulation in the present study is an idealization of the refrigerated air curtain used in supermarket food display cabinets. The thermal insulation performance of refrigerated air curtains is very important for perishable food storage and energy saving for refrigerated display cabinets. Thermal insulation ability of recirculated refrigerated air curtains was numerically studied in the present work. The results show that the refrigerated air curtains are negatively buoyant jets and tend to flow toward the inside cabinet due to stack pressure, so the initial momentum must be sufficiently large to sustain the pressure difference across the air curtain and assure the thermal insulation. The length–width ratio and the discharge angle of the air curtains, the height–depth ratio of the cavity and the dimension and position of the inside shelves would greatly influence the thermal insulation performance of air curtains, therefore were extensively discussed. The maximum Richardson numbers or the optimum parameter selections in each situation were presented for practical design of refrigerated air curtains used in multi-deck display cabinets.