Experimental and numerical investigation of the performance of retail refrigerated display cabinets

Abstract Background Refrigerated display cabinets are widely used to preserve chilled and frozen food products in retail food stores. Storage temperatures must be efficiently controlled to ensure that the product temperature is maintained below the recommended value. Numerous surveys have demonstrated that refrigerated display cabinets, seem to be a weak link in the food cold chain, and household practices also constitute weak links. A great deal of effort has been devoted to the investigation and improvement of the performance of cabinets in terms of both temperature homogeneity and energy efficiency. Scope and approach In this review article, an investigation of refrigerated display cabinet performance, from basic experimental field and laboratory studies to advanced numerical simulation, is presented. Field investigation enables knowledge of real-use conditions to be acquired and identifies problems encountered during food storage. However, such investigation is usually costly and time-consuming. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach is becoming a promising alternative used to study the influence of various design parameters and operating conditions on the cabinet performance. Key findings and conclusions Ambient air infiltration across air curtains is the most significant factor indicating the performance of open display cabinets. This issue is still problematic in many research and development contexts. The application of closed doors becomes an alternative solution which has been proven that it can provide several advantages. As little research involving this type of refrigeration equipment is available, thus further investigation is required in order to obtain additional data.

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