Dynamic modeling and thermal performance analysis of a refrigerated truck body during operation

Abstract The average cooling demand of a refrigerated vehicle depends on the external conditions and on the journey's profile, such as ambient temperature, air velocity, vehicle speed etc. In order to understand the dynamic heat load on the system and predict the peak of cooling demand, a fully dynamic model of the insulated box of a refrigerated vehicle was developed and experimentally validated. Experimental data was collected during test of a vehicle following the International Agreement for the Transport of Perishable (ATP) test. The model validation demonstrates the capability of the model to correctly predict the evolution of the internal box air temperature in both transient and steady-state conditions. The trend of dynamic load, peak of cooling demand, influence of the solar absorption coefficient and influence of the walls thermal mass on the cooling energy demand during a typical mission are also simulated.