Numerical and experimental investigation of energy efficiency by applying phase change material to open vertical type refrigerated display cabinet

Abstract

In this study, phase change material (PCM) was applied to increase the energy efficiency of an open vertical type refrigerated display cabinet (OVRDC) with a width of 2500 mm, a height of 2059 mm, and a depth of 920 mm. First of all, tests were carried out on traditional OVRDC without PCM and then on OVRDC with PCM in a test room designed according to TS EN ISO 23953-2 standard. For both designs, distribution of cold air in the OVRDC, product temperatures on shelves, compressor on-off period, defrost times and energy consumption values were examined. The test data has been validated using by the computational fluid dynamics method. According to the results, it has been observed that the OVRDC with PCM in the specified cabinet sizes reduced total refrigerated electrical energy consumption by 5.1% compared to the conventional cabinets.