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Latent thermal energy storage for thermal management of refrigerated trucks.

Number: 2441

Author(s) : CALATI M., RIGHETTI G., ZILIO C., HOOMAN K., MANCIN S.

Summary

The main role to ensure the quality and safety of the perishable products along the cold chain is played by the refrigerated transport. About 40% of the total amount of energy spent over the cold chain can be attributed to the food transportation only, in order to maintain an appropriate air temperature inside the truck cell. It must be considered that fresh products, if compared with frozen ones, are more temperature sensitive, and that more than 30% perishes during the route because the proper temperature is not maintained. Recently, scientists have been focusing their efforts on the development of innovative solutions, which ensure a proper refrigerated products distribution and transportation in a more environmental-friendly and cost-effective way.
Therefore, in this work, the charging performance of a Latent Thermal Energy Storage (LTES) system which consists of a novel insulated wall made of the traditional insulation material layer wrapping a second layer made of PCM is analysed. More specifically, 2D transient numerical analyses are run in Ansys Fluent 18.2, by setting to the refrigerated cell a varying hour by hour solar irradiation from 6 AM to 4 PM. The effects of the presence of 50% of product load inside the refrigerated cell, is also investigated. Moreover, the effect of the heat respiration of the food is analysed. For the long-distance route no door openings nor additional heat infiltrations are considered.

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Format PDF

Pages: 10 p.

Available

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Details

  • Original title: Latent thermal energy storage for thermal management of refrigerated trucks.
  • Record ID : 30030729
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Technology
  • Source: 2022 Purdue Conferences. 19th International Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2022

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