Three-dimensional investigation on the positioning of air curtain on its effectiveness in refrigerated vehicles used for food distribution

Abstract

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Two different positioning of an air curtain have been investigated for this study, inside the trailer and just outside the trailer's door. The distance of the position was based on the results assessed during several pre-trial runs. The study identified that the energy performance of an air curtain placed outside is better than the energy performance of an air curtain placed inside by almost 8%. However, the energy performance of an air curtain is highly dependent on the discharge velocity. The energy savings are based on the optimal discharge velocity range. However, at lowest and highest discharge velocity, 1 m/s and 5 m/s in this case, the energy performance of an air curtain positioned outside is almost similar and even less than the air curtain positioned inside, making the inside positioning of the device to be more effective. One of the disadvantages of placing an air curtain outside would be allowing space for air leakage to take place. The sealing efficiency, however, is much better for the air curtain positioned inside the chamber.