关键词: 相变蓄冷, 冷链, 集装箱, 释冷性能

Abstract:

Aiming to solve the high energy consumption, large fluctuation of internal temperature and humidity issues of the conventional cold chain transportation containers, this paper presents a phase change materials (PCMs）-based cold thermal energy storage (TES） container for cold chain application. By installing 10 cold TES plates in a 40ft insulation container, the cooling of the interior of container can be achieved through the released cold during the solid-liquid phase transition of the PCMs inside the plates. The separate charging facility was introduced and the charging performance of the TES conditioner was studied. Experimental investigations of the internal temperature and humidity of the container with time have been carried out, the cooling time, the time evolution of the internal temperature and humidity under the dynamic condition are obtained. The charging time was found to be 6 hours. The dynamic discharging experiments showed that the cooling time of the TES container was long, and the internal relative humidity could be maintained between 85% and 95%. Compared with the conventional refrigeration container, the operation cost can be saved by 61.9%, with a payback period of 0.58 years. Higher internal relative humidity and longer cooling time, together with the benefits of operating costs, indicate the feasibility of the TES container for the cold chain application.

Key words: cold thermal energy storage, cold chain, reefer container, discharging performance