Introduction:

Open refrigerated display cabinets have become a staple in retail spaces, providing customers with easy access to products while presenting a significant challenge in terms of energy consumption. The inherent design, characterized by an open structure, leads to a substantial demand for energy as the cold air inside the cabinet interacts with the warmer ambient air. This exchange occurs across the air curtain, a non-physical barrier that separates customers from the displayed products. It is estimated that a staggering 70% of the cooling load in these cabinets is attributed to the infiltration of ambient air through the air curtain. As businesses strive to maximize sales by increasing the display-to-floor area, the design of these cabinets becomes increasingly complex, requiring a delicate balance between product integrity, temperature uniformity, and energy efficiency.

In this groundbreaking work, researchers have integrated two advanced numerical techniques to both quantify and minimize the entrainment rate through the air curtain and the infiltration rate into open low-front refrigerated display cabinets.

The Approach:

The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique takes center stage, providing a detailed mapping of velocity, temperature, and mass flow rate profiles along the air curtain before and after design modifications. This technique, combined with the Simulink approach, enables the mapping of cooling loads about temperature and mass flow rate profiles across the air curtain. The synergy of these methods offers a comprehensive understanding of the impact of design modifications on the cabinet’s performance.

Contributions to the work:

This research significantly contributes to our understanding of entrainment and infiltration processes in open refrigerated display cabinets. The introduced modifications offer designers valuable insights, allowing them to assess the impact of different design parameters and quantify entrainment and infiltration rates accurately. The potential to enhance both energy efficiency and product preservation in open refrigerated display cabinets marks a critical step toward sustainable and optimized retail practices.