Comparison of veracity and application of different CFD turbulence models for refrigerated transport

Abstract The objective of this study was to establish a comprehensively verified 3D CFD model of this experimental platform to simulate the airflow and heat transfer at different unsteady turbulence model (standard κ-e, RNG κ-e, Realizable κ-e, standard κ-ω, SST κ-ω and RSM), and to predict the temporal-spatial temperature and velocity variations during cooling. Good agreement between model prediction and measured data was obtained. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) were 1.049 °C, 1.033 °C, 1.039 °C, 1.037 °C, 1.014 °C and 1.064 °C for standard κ-e, RNG κ-e, Realizable κ-e, standard κ-ω, SST κ-ω and RSM, respectively. There were no significant differences in different turbulence models on simulating the temperature distribution, and it was similar to solve the energy equation on different turbulence models with two-equation eddy viscosity. This study also revealed that the simulation values of high Reynolds numbers turbulence model (e.g. standard κ-e, RNG κ-e, Realizable κ-e and RSM) were slightly lower than measured values near the plane wall. After comparing the accuracy of six two-equation turbulence models, the SST κ-ω model shows more accurate predictions by a comparison of the experimental and simulated results. This research provided reliable method for better understanding and selecting CFD turbulence models to refrigerated transport of fresh fruit.