Experimental study on the heat and mass transfer characteristics in a refrigerated truck

Abstract An experimental study on the heat and mass transfer characteristics in the body of a refrigerated truck for cases without an air curtain, with a fan air curtain and with a plastic strip curtain have been carried out. The variations in temperature and relative humidity inside the stationary truck during a short duration after the door is opened are the present focus. The average air temperature inside is found to increase to 14, 7 and 8°C from an initial temperature of −10°C, for cases without an air curtain, with a fan air curtain and with a plastic strip curtain, respectively, within 2 min after the door is opened. It is found that using an air curtain can have energy savings up to 40 and 11%, respectively, compared to the cases without an air curtain and using plastic strip curtain. Comparison between the experiment and numerical results also shows reasonable agreement in terms of average temperature inside the body.