CFD-aided retail cabinets design

Food requires strict temperature control throughout the so-called 'cold-chain', in which a particular storage temperature is needed for each link. Display cabinets are known to be the weakest link from this point of view and, therefore, particular attention is paid to their design. In this paper, the usefulness of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is illustrated, as a tool for the prediction of the air flow pattern and of food temperature inside the cabinet. The numerical method is described: the airflow pattern and the load temperature are solved in sequence, in order to save computation time. The results of simulations performed both on a vertical and a horizontal cabinet are reported, as an example of the capabilities of the method. The influence of warm air infiltration on the energy balance of the cabinet is investigated and the results are validated by comparison with experimental tests. The applications reported in this paper showed the model to be reliable, and of valuable help to the designer. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.