APPLICATION OF VIPs IN COMMERCIAL SERVICE CABINETS

摘要

Published attempts to use VIPs (Vacuum Insulation Panels) to improve the thermal performance ofrncool boxes had found that VIPs do not yield their expected benefits, often only realising 2.5 to 3 timesrnthe improvement over PU (Polyurethane) rather than the expected 5 fold benefit (Kacimi andrnLabranque, 2011; Brown et al., 2007). Later work (Hammond and Micic, 2013) relating to ULTrn(Ultra low temperature) freezers showed that around 86% of the expected benefit of VIPs would bernrealised though embedding them into the wall of the PU foam.rnThis paper expands previous work with ULT systems by embedding VIPs into a PU foamed cavity ofrna multi temperature commercial service refrigerator / freezer and presents the test results of therncabinet in both modes of operation. The resulting reduction in energy consumption was thenrnmeasured to estimate payback periods.rnThe overall thermal conductivity was calculated for the insulation the cabinet, with and without VIPsrninset. The measured thermal performance was then assessed based on energy consumption measuredrnin a temperature controlled test chamber.