A numerical study on the usage of phase change material (PCM) to prolong compressor off period in a beverage cooler

Abstract This study numerically investigates the influence of integration of a phase change material (PCM) slab inside a vertical beverage cooler (VBC) on the energy consumption, the thermal stability and flow characteristics of air inside the cooler. The PCM, water, slab is placed on the rear side of the flat plate roll bond evaporator with five different thicknesses, such as 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mm. In the current work, transient numerical analyses are performed with ANSYS-FLUENT software for an empty cooler. To simulate the on/off controller of the cooling system a dedicated user-defined-function (UDF) is implemented in the software. Unlike the counterparts in the recent literature, instead of reducing the problem into a 1D or 2D lumped models a three-dimensional cooler domain is simulated in a commercial CFD solver. The predictions are compared with the experimental measurement for the cooler without PCM regarding the transient variations of the mean temperatures of evaporator surface and the indoor air. Consequently, the parametric set of analyses deduced that the PCM integration into the cooler enhances the cooling performance of the VBC by prolonging compressor off duration. Moreover, during the compressor off time, PCM preserves the air temperature inside the refrigerated space in the desired range by limiting the sudden temperature increments.

[1]  Patrick Glouannec,et al.  Experimental and numerical study of heat transfer across insulation wall of a refrigerated integral panel van , 2014 .

[2]  H. Paksoy,et al.  Improving performance of household refrigerators by incorporating phase change materials , 2015 .

[3]  Joaquín Navarro-Esbrí,et al.  Steady‐state model of a variable speed vapor compression system using R134a as working fluid , 2010 .

[4]  Thomas Scanlon,et al.  A numerical analysis of buoyancy-driven melting and freezing , 2004 .

[5]  Pradeep Bansal,et al.  Effect of door opening and defrost cycle on a freezer with phase change panels , 2010 .

[6]  Jadran Vrabec,et al.  Reducing the power consumption of household refrigerators through the integration of latent heat storage elements in wire-and-tube condensers , 2015 .

[7]  Wen-Long Cheng,et al.  Multi-objective optimization of household refrigerator with novel heat-storage condensers by Genetic algorithm , 2014 .

[8]  Riccardo Angiuli,et al.  Thermographic analysis of polyurethane foams integrated with phase change materials designed for dynamic thermal insulation in refrigerated transport , 2014 .

[9]  Mario A. Medina,et al.  Reducing Heat Transfer Across the Insulated Walls of Refrigerated Truck Trailers by the Application of Phase Change Materials , 2010 .

[10]  Denis Leducq,et al.  Enhancing the performance of household refrigerators with latent heat storage: An experimental investigation , 2009 .

[11]  Fariborz Haghighat,et al.  Heat and cold storage using phase change materials in domestic refrigeration systems: The state-of-the-art review , 2015 .

[12]  T. Shih,et al.  A new k-ϵ eddy viscosity model for high reynolds number turbulent flows , 1995 .

[13]  Md. Imran H. Khan,et al.  Effect of phase change material on compressor on-off cycling of a household refrigerator , 2015 .

[14]  Yi-Ning Liu,et al.  A novel household refrigerator with shape-stabilized PCM (Phase Change Material) heat storage conden , 2011 .

[15]  D. Leducq,et al.  Performance enhancement of a household refrigerator by addition of latent heat storage , 2008 .

[16]  M. Farid,et al.  Improving thermal performance of freezers using phase change materials. , 2012 .

[17]  Graeme Maidment,et al.  Theoretical modelling and experimental investigation of a thermal energy storage refrigerator , 2013 .

[18]  Yunting Ge,et al.  The novel use of phase change materials in an open type refrigerated display cabinet: A theoretical investigation , 2016 .

[19]  Wen-Long Cheng,et al.  Numerical analysis of a novel household refrigerator with shape-stabilized PCM (phase change material) heat storage condensers , 2013 .

[20]  Zhengguo Zhang,et al.  Experimental and numerical investigation of form-stable dodecane/hydrophobic fumed silica composite phase change materials for cold energy storage , 2015 .

[21]  Wen-Long Cheng,et al.  Analysis of energy saving performance for household refrigerator with thermal storage of condenser and evaporator , 2017 .

[22]  Yunting Ge,et al.  The novel use of phase change materials in a refrigerated display cabinet: An experimental investigation , 2015 .

[23]  Amar M. Khudhair,et al.  A review on phase change energy storage: materials and applications , 2004 .