Radiative Heat Transfer Survey from Commercial Refrigerators

Radiative heat transfer must be considered in retail refrigerators with glass doors. Some methods have been proposed for reducing radiative losses, like usage of double glased windows filled with argon or other types of transparent material with low emissivity in infrared band. For evaluation of thermal radiation in commercial refrigerator compared to infiltration loss, thermal conduction and facilities loss, a three dimensional model has been developed. In this model all wall surfaces are isothermal and evaporator with specific temperature located in roof. The radiative properties of glass are considered as actual. The results show that decreasing internal temperature of cabinet incentive radiation losses. These losses are almost independent of window surface temperature. Increasing of emissivity factor of evaporator, causes increasing of thermal radiation flux of evaporator which can be used in design improvement. Radiation flux of each surface have been compared with convection flux. This comparison show the importance of covering windows in unutilized times.