PREDICTION OF OPEN DOOR CABINET AND PACKAGE REPLACEMENT HEAT AND MOISTURE EFFECTS

摘要

Manufacturers have made substantial gains in energy efficiency over the last two decades. The gains have been based on several small, but cumulative effects including improved compressors, controls, heat exchangers, and cabinets. Continued improvement of refrigerators is dependent on tracking down all manners in which energy is transferred into a cabinet. An experimental investigation of refrigerator cabinets is conducted using test cavities that cover a Rayleigh number range typical of domestic refrigerators. The cavities are constructed from foamboard insulation with the interior covered with aluminum plates that act as calorimeters. A cavity is heated or cooled then opened to the surrounding ambient air. To obtained moisture on cavities, the cavity is placed on a scale and its surface temperatures are cooled below the ambient dew point temperature, and a scale records the accumulation of water formed on the plates. The addition of water on the cavity walls is used to determine the overall cavity mass transfer coefficient. Tests are also conducted using objects to simulate packages and food containers in similar fashion to the cavities. These objects are constructed in the same manner as the cavities. The objects are heated or cooled to a certain temperature, then are removed and placed in the surrounding ambient air. Transient temperatures are recorded, which are then related to the heat transfer coefficient over the plate. The goals of this paper are to examine the results from testing on the simulated containers and use this information to predict the heat and mass transfer effects of a refrigerator due to package replacement. Loading due to these effects will be compared to open door cabinet loading effects.