Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 3334–3339

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Experimental research on air flow performance at supply-air openings

in frost-free refrigerator by DPIV
Xiangzhao Meng *, Bingfeng Yu
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In household frost-free refrigerators, the air flow field is the most important factor that affects temper-
Received 18 September 2008 ature distributions in chambers, while the performance of the supply-air openings for each chest deter-
Accepted 11 May 2009 mines the character of the flow field in the chest. Thus, it is necessary to perform experimental research
Available online 20 May 2009
on the air flow performance at the supply-air openings to improve the service performance, furthermore,
to reduce the energy consumption of frost-free refrigerators. In this study, the airflow performance at the
Keywords: supply-air openings in a BCD-190W type household frost-free refrigerator was investigated. A transpar-
Frost-free refrigerator
ent model was built based on similitude theory. The measurement system using 2-D Digital Particle
DPIV
Experimental research
Image Velocimetry (DPIV) technology and the proper tracer particles were adopted. The velocity distri-
Supply-air opening bution performance of typical rectangular supply-air openings in the refrigerator were measured. In addi-
tion, the problem in flow rate and location design of supply-air openings were presented on the basis of
the analysis of the experimental results. The results show that DPIV can be applied to obtain the air flow
performance at supply-air openings in frost-free refrigerators. Moreover, the structure of supply-air
openings in each chest and the design of the supply-air tunnel resistance in cooling chamber should
be improved.
Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction the velocity distributions in the chests of a frost-free refrigerator,

In frost-free refrigerators, the air cooled by the evaporator is
transported and distributed to each chest through the air circula-
tion tunnel, the supply-air openings and the return-air openings.
Special air flow styles are built to maintain required air velocity
around the food to keep uniform cooling. The temperature distri-
bution characters in the frost-free refrigerator have significant
influence on the performance and energy consumption [1], and
the temperature distributions depend on the flow field in the
chambers. The air flow performance at the supply-air openings is
the key factor that affects the velocity distribution in each cham-
ber. Therefore, it is very important to study the air flow perfor-
mance of the supply-air openings so as to improve the service
performance and reduce energy consumption of frost-free
refrigerators.
Several investigators studied the air velocity and temperature
distributions in frost-free refrigerators. The numerical simulation
on air flow fields near the fan zone was carried out by Su [2]. The
simulation results indicated that increasing the distance between
the fan and the supply-air opening board would be helpful to elim-
inate the vortex flow and improve the uniformity of the air supply
velocities. The laminar flow model was adopted by Bing to calculate
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: xzmeng@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (X. Meng).
and the supply-air openings were set as inlet boundary conditions,
but the results did not verified by experiments [3]. Gupta et al.
established a 3-D thermojet air flow model of a frost-free refrigera-
tor and adopted the control volume method to simulate the velocity
and temperature distribution in the chests. They indicated that the
simulation results of the temperatures in the freezing chamber were
higher than the experiment results while the simulated tempera-
tures in the cooling chamber were somewhat lower than the exper-
iment results. Moreover, the difference between the simulation
results and the experiment data was caused by lack of accurate
measurement for air flow velocities in the chambers [4]. Numerical
simulation study of heat transfer characteristics of air jet in frost-
free refrigerators were conducted recently by Imraan, but the corre-
sponding experimental research was not carried out [5]. Several
exploratory experiments have been conducted on the air flow field
in the chambers of frost-free refrigerators [6,7]. Lacerda explored
the effect of the varying temperature distribution on the velocity
distributions in two orthogonal sections by using a 2-D Digital Par-
ticle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) system through two transparent
adiabatic windows on the envelop of the freezer chamber of a
frost-free refrigerator [8]. However, this measurement method
can obtain only 2-D flow field within a limited zone and cannot re-
flect the flow field characters in the chamber.
Rectangular opening was one type of supply-air opening used in
frost-free refrigerator. In this study, the flow field in a BCD-190W

1359-4311/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2009.05.009
 X. Meng, B. Yu / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 3334–3339 3335

type household frost-free refrigerator was investigated. This type

of refrigerator was the most popular capacity in China, and several
typical types of rectangular openings have been used in this type of
refrigerator. A transparent frost-free refrigerator model was built
based on similitude theory, and the proper tracer particles were
adopted. The velocity distribution characters of typical supply-air
openings were measured using DPIV system.

2. Measurement system

DPIV can be applied to perform non-contact, transient, and real

time measurement. It has been used as the standard method of 2-D
flow field measurement in many fields [9,10]. The experiment was
performed in the State Specialized Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics
in Xi’an Jiaotong University. The 2-D DPIV system used had been
calibrated before our experiments. The largest measurement error
was not more than 1.0% [11] DPIV measurement system used in
the experiment consists a beam path system, an image capture sys-
tem, a synchronization control system, and an image analysis sys-
tem (see Fig. 1).
Our experiment was carried out on a transparent frost-free
refrigerator model for illuminating the flow fields by the laser
sheets. The model and the prototype were of the same dimension
to meet the geometrical similarity. The supply-air fan and the
evaporator were the real parts of the prototype refrigerator to keep
the same air flow rate within the prototype. Thus the Reynolds
number and the Euler number of the model would be probably
same as those of the prototype. During the steady operation period,
the temperature in the freezing chamber should be lower than
18.0 °C, and the temperature in the cooling chamber should be
between 0 and 10 °C. During this experiment, the air temperature
was 3.4 °C. The maximum uncertainty of the Prandtl number
caused by the temperature difference was less than 2.0%. In sum-
mary, the characters of the flow field in the model were approxi-
mately similar to those of the prototype. Therefore, the flow field
measurement results for the model could be used to analyze the
flow field in the prototype.
The transparent model of a BCD-190W type household frost-
free refrigerator was built based on similitude theory, see Fig. 1b.
The freezing chamber was divided into three chests and the top
one was separated into two parts, see Fig. 2. The total height of
the freezing chamber (along Z direction) was 400 mm, while the
height of the top chest, the middle chest and the third chest was
130 mm, 100 mm and 160 mm, respectively. The total width
(along X direction) of freezing chamber was 420 mm, and the
width of the left part of the top chest was 160 mm and the right
part was 260 mm. The depth (along Y direction) of the top chest
of the freezing chamber was 220 mm, and same for the middle
chest, and the depth of the bottom chest was 290 mm. The cooling
chamber was divided into four chests, see Fig. 4. The total height of
Fig. 1. Experiment system.
Fig. 2. Structure of freezing chamber.
Fig. 3. Structure of cooling.
the cooling chamber was 585 mm, while the height of the top
chest, the second chest, the third chest and the bottom chest was
150 mm, 120 mm, 160 mm and 155 mm, respectively. The width
of the top chest was 390 mm, and all other chests were 450 mm
wide. The depth of the top chest, the second chest, the third chest
and the fourth chest were 350 mm, 370 mm, 390 mm and 440 mm,
respectively.
In this study, the tracer particles were generated by heating a
kind of silicon oil with a fog generator. The average diameter of
the tracer particles was about 1–2 lm. Thus, the particles were
with good follow movement property and easy to be dispersed.
3. Experiment results and analysis
3.1. Experiment results and analysis for freezing chamber
3.1.1. Performance analysis of the supply-air openings for the left part
of the top chest
There were three sets of supply-air openings with the same size
in the top left chest of the freezing chamber, and each set included
three openings, see Fig. 3a. The guide plate with about 10 mm high
was normal to the air supply board. Fig. 5 shows that two vortexes
existed in the measurement zones because of the combined action
of the supply-air openings and the return-air openings. The mea-
surement results show that the air jet velocities of the top two lay-
ers of the supply-air openings were larger than those of the lower
openings. The measured largest velocity of the air jets was 2.22 m/
s. The injection effects of the upper layer openings resulted in the
air jet of the lower layer openings deviating upward and merged
with the air jet of the upper openings to form the high velocity
stratum. This flow type is favorable to protect heat transfer from
the envelope and the door. If the food was placed in the chest, it
would not destroy the mean flow type significantly. Since the air
jets from the supply-air openings deviated upward, the upper
3336 X. Meng, B. Yu / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 3334–3339
Fig. 4. Velocity distributions in the center plane of supply-air openings for the left part of the top chest of the freezing chamber.
Fig. 5. Velocity distribution in the center plane of supply-air openings for the right part of the top chest of the freezing chamber.
guide plate could protect the air jet from impacting the roof of the
chest to cause the significant loss of momentum. However, the
lower guide plate had no effects on the air jet, so it should be re-
moved in the design improvement.
3.1.2. Performance analysis of the supply-air openings for the right
part of the top chest
There were seven supply-air openings for the right part of the
top chest of the freezing chamber, see Fig. 2. The guide plates were
located at the under limb of the openings, and the included angle
was about 60°. Fig. 5a shows that the velocity of the left-hand sup-
ply-air opening was the largest in that of the seven openings in the
chest, the measured largest velocity was 2.21 m/s. The air jet veloc-
ities decreased from left to right because of the distance between
the opening and the fan increased. The velocity of the right-hand
opening was 1.22 m/s, see Fig. 5b. Comparison of Fig. 5a with
Fig. 5b shows that, the distance and the influence zone of the air
jet from the left-hand opening were less than those from the
right-hand opening although its velocity was larger, since the
velocity vectors of the openings for the right part of the top chest
in the freezing chamber all deviated toward right-hand. Thus, the
air jets mainly influenced the right part space of the chest, and
the mean temperature in the right region would be lower than that
in the left region.
3.1.3. Performance analysis of the supply-air openings for the second
and third chest
There were two symmetric same size rectangular supply-air
openings in the second chest and the third chest of the freezing
chamber, respectively. While, the volume of the third chest was
60% larger than that of the second chest. The guide plates were lo-
cated at the upper limb of the openings, and the included angle be-
tween the guide plate and the supply-air openings was about 45
degrees. Measurement results showed that the air jets from the
two openings deviated downward, see Fig. 6. The center velocity
of the air jet of the left opening of the second chest and the third
chest were 0.93 m/s and 1.96 m/s, respectively. And those of the
right opening were 1.19 m/s and 0.75 m/s, respectively. Therefore
the flow rate of the two openings of each chest would be different
obviously, and it would cause different temperature distribution in
the left part and right part of each chest.
In third chest, it is more serious that the measurement plane
was separated into two parts by the air jet. Although the velocity
of the right air jet is only 38% that of the left air jet, the air jet
reached the return-air openings directly, see Fig. 7. That is, the
air jet had a short circuit It is difficult to avoid air jet short circuit
in the third chest only by reducing the air jet velocity. It could be
suggested that the supply-air openings for the third chest should
be improved by adjust the direction of the air jets of the supply-
air openings to avoid the air jet short circuit.
The measurement results of the freezing chamber indicate that
the openings should be modified to improve the uniformity of the
temperature distributions. Since all these openings are located at
the back panel, the velocity and pressure distribution in the space
between the fan and the back panel are key factors that determine
the performance of each opening. Further research is needed on
the flow field between the fan and the supply-air panel for opti-
mizing the supply-air openings design for the freezing chamber.
 X. Meng, B. Yu / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 3334–3339 3337

Fig. 6. Velocity distribution in the center plane of supply-air openings for the second chest.

Fig. 7. Velocity distribution in the center plane of the supply-air opening for the third chest.

3.2. Experiment results and analysis of cooling chamber
There were two symmetric rectangular supply-air openings for
each chest of the cooling chamber, see Fig. 3. The cold air for the
cooling chamber was distributed by two air tunnels that connected
with the left openings and right openings separately.
3.2.1. Performance analysis of the supply-air openings for the first
chest of cooling chamber
Fig. 8 shows that the measured center velocity of the left air jet
was 0.37 m/s, and that of the right air jet was 0.64 m/s. Thus, the
flow rate would be obviously different between the two openings.
The directions of the two air jets were also different clearly. In
Fig. 8a, the air jet flowed along horizontal direction and attenuated
rapidly, and its influence region was very small. The air jet of the
right opening flowed upward, and the velocities of the upper part
were larger than those of the lower part in the measurement zone,
as shown in Fig. 8b. The measurement results indicate that the air
tunnel and the supply-air openings should be optimized in order to
ensure equalization of the flow rates of the two supply-air open-
ings in the first, and then determine the proper directions of the
air jets center velocities.

Fig. 8. Velocity distribution in the center plane of the supply-air openings for the top chest of the cooling chamber.
3338 X. Meng, B. Yu / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 3334–3339

3.2.2. Performance analysis of the supply-air openings for the second
and third chest
The supply-air openings for the second and third chest were
grid-type, see Fig. 3. The air jets performance of the supply-air
openings in the second chest were shown in Fig. 9. The maximum
velocities in the measurement zones were lower than 0.03 m/s. the
performance of the supply-air openings in the third chest were al-
most same to that of the second chest. In the third chest, the mea-
sured center velocity of the left jet was 0.085 m/s, and it was 85%
higher than the that of the right jet, 0.046 m/s. The air flow rates
of the openings could not meet the required cooling capacity of
the two chests. The too high resistance of the supply-air openings
and the air tunnel may be the primary reason for the too small flow
rate of the supply-air openings.
3.2.3. Performance analysis of the supply-air openings for the forth
chest
The air jets directions of the supply-air openings for the forth
chest are different from the other openings, see Fig. 3. The two
openings are located at the end of the air tunnels along the back
of the third chest. Their locations are higher than the shelf of the
third chest. Each air jet flowed through the gap between the third
shelf and the back wall and entered the forth chest. Fig. 10 shows
that the air jet flow downward along the back wall of the chest un-
til it reached the bottom, and then it flowed toward outside of the
chest. Therefore, the air velocities in the lower part of the chest
were rather large in the chest. The measured center velocity of
the left air jet was 0.31 m/s, and that of the right air jet was
0.14 m/s. This would cause the non-uniform temperature distribu-
tion in the forth chest.
Comparison of the measurement results of the cooling chamber
indicates that the center velocities of the supply-air openings for
the second and third chests were rather lower than those of the
other two chests. Thus, the average temperatures in the second
and third chests would be lower than those in the other two chests
of the cooling chamber. The experiment results show that the air
flow rates of the lower three chest were different significantly, so
the average temperature in these chests would also be different.

Fig. 9. Velocity distributions in the center plane of the supply-air openings for the second chest of the cooling chamber.

Fig. 10. Velocity distributions in the center plane of the supply-air openings for the forth chest of the cooling chamber.
 X. Meng, B. Yu / Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (2009) 3334–3339
The optimum resistance design of the air tunnel and the openings
is a critical approach to good service performance and energy
saving.
4. Conclusions
In this study, the experiment research on the air flow characters
of the supply-air openings in a transparent BCD-190W type house-
hold frost-free refrigerator model was carried out based on the
similitude theory. The experiment results indicate that DPIV tech-
nology used for the model experiment could overcome the diffi-
culty on measuring the flow field in the prototype refrigerator,
and the accurate air flow performance at the supply-air openings
were obtained. The measurement results show that all the sup-
ply-air openings in this refrigerator should be improved.
In the freezing chamber, good flow type was formed in the left
part of the top chest, but the lower guide plate could be removed
because it is useless. The air jet velocities in the right part of the
top chest of freezing chamber decreased from left to right with
the increasing of the distance between the openings and the fan.
The velocities of each two supply-air openings in the second and
the third chest of the freezing chamber were different obviously.
The air jets of the openings for the third chest had short circuit.
In the cooling chamber, the air jets velocities in each chest were
different clearly, and the air jets velocities in the top chest were
the largest, and those of the middle two chests were the smallest.
The velocity difference between the symmetric two openings in
each chest of the cooling chamber was also obviously because of
the difference of the resistances of the air tunnel and the openings.
From the experiment results and the analysis, it could be sug-
gested that the supply-air openings should be modified. For the
freezing chamber, the under guide plate of the openings for the left
part of the top chest could be removed. Further research on the
flow field in the space between the back board and the fan should
3339
carried out in order to achieve equal air flux at the symmetric
openings in the same chest. The short circuit of the air jets for
the third chest should be avoid by reducing the air jets velocities
and making the air jet flow upward. For the cooling chamber, the
primary task is to obtain equal air flux of each opening in the same
chest through optimizing the resistance of the openings. Simulta-
neously, the structures and the resistance of the two parallel air
tunnels should be same to obtain equal flux in each tunnel.
References
[1] R. Radermacher, K. Kin, Domestic refrigerators: recent developments,
International Journal of Refrigeration 19 (1) (1996) 61–69.
[2] Xiuping Su, Jiangping Chen, Zhijiu Chen, et al., Numerical simulation and
optimization of fan area flow field in indirect-cool refrigerator, Journal of
Shanghai Jiaotong University 37 (7) (2003) 1133–1136 (in Chinese).
[3] Bing Yu, Ling Tong, Xiongcai Que, et al., Numerical researches on 3-D gas–solid
coupled heat transfer and flow in indirect-cool refrigerator, Journal of Shanghai
Jiaotong University. 32 (7) (1998) 23–27 (in Chinese).
[4] J.K. Gupta, R.M. Gopal, S. Chakraborty, Modeling of a domestic frost-free
refrigerator, International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (3) (2007) 311–317.
[5] M. Imraan, R.N. Sharma, Jet impingement heat transfer in a frost-free
refrigerator: the influence of confinement, International Journal of
Refrigeration 32 (4) (2009) 515–523.
[6] Xiangzhao Meng, Bingfeng Yu, DPIV measurement of the inner flow field of
cooling chamber of frost-free refrigerator, Journal of Xi’an Jiaotong University
41 (9) (2007) 1075–1079 (in Chinese).
[7] Bingfeng Yu, Jiyou Fei, Xiangzhao Meng, et al., DPIV measurement and
numerical simulation of the inner flow field of freezer chest of frost-free
refrigerator, Journal of Refrigeration 24 (2) (2003) 32–36 (in Chinese).
[8] V.T. Lacerda, C. Melo, J.R. Barbosa, et al., Measurement of the air flow
field in the freezer compartment of a top-mount no-frost refrigerator:
the effect of temperature, International Journal of Refrigeration (28)
(2005) 774–783.
[9] J. Westerweel, Digital Particle Image Velocimetry: Theory and Application,
Delft Univ. Press, Delft, 1993. 236p.
[10] I. Grant, G.H. Smith, Modern developments in particle image velocimetry,
Optics and Lasers in Engineering 9 (3) (1998) 245–264.
[11] W. Zhang, Y. Wang, Z. Xu, W. Jin, Application of particle image velocimetry to
measurement of Poisoeullie flow and flow around a circular cylinder, Journal
of Xi’an Jiaotong University 36 (3) (2002) 246–251 (in Chinese).