Analysis of the Performance Characteristics of the Cold Storage Duct with the Charging Amounts of PCM

Abstract

Frequent power outages are common in developing countries owing to poor energy supply. The discontinuous supply of electricity cannot ensure the freshness of foods, such as meat, fish, and vegetables, in the refrigerator. Research is being conducted to increase the energy efficiency of refrigerators and improve the refrigeration function to maintain a constant temperature. However, the considerably high cost of PCM makes it imperative to inject an appropriate amount of PCM and analyze the structural effect due to the change in weight in the cold storage duct according to the amount of PCM charged. Therefore, in this study, a simulation was conducted on the structural effect of the cold storage duct according to the charging amount of PCM. Results showed that the normal elastic strain of the cold storage duct increased by 0.259 mm(from 0.672mm to 0.931mm) when the charging amount of PCM increased from 500g to 1400g. In addition, as the charging amount of PCM increased from 500g to 800g, the total deformation increased by about 12.6%. According to the weight, the total deformation did not significantly increase when the charging amount of PCM increased from 800g to 1400g. Furthermore, there was little change in the normal stress, from 8.021kPa to 8.022 kPa, as the charging amount of PCM increased from 500g to 1400g