CFD aided retail cabinets design

Retail refrigerated cabinets are used in stores for the sale of perishable food. They have to effectively display products while maintaining them at the correct storage temperature, so as to avoid quality loss or safety issues. They are considered a weak link in the cold chain, despite the fact that they consume a huge quantity of energy. It is therefore essential that the efficacy of retail cabinets in terms of food preservation and energy consumption is improved. CFD is a fundamental tool for the design of such equipment. Air flow patterns inside the load volume, in the air curtains, in the evaporator and in the rear ducts, as well as product temperature distribution can be effectively predicted at various configurations and operating conditions, allowing optimization and saving a lot of experimental tests. Furthermore, in the case of open cabinets the interaction with the ambient can be investigated, looking at the most advantageous indoor climate conditions. This chapter illustrates retail cabinets and their operation, demonstrates how CFD can be effectively used and gives some advices about the CFD methodology.