Heat transfer and air flow inside a domestic refrigerator working with natural and forced convection modes.

The work has been carried out to study the temperature distribution and air flow variation inside the food compartment of domestic refrigerator. Effect of natural convection and forced convection modes of operation on secondary air flow and temperature distribution has been studied numerically. Also, effect of placement of evaporator in the natural circulation mode of operation has been studied. Commercial CFD software ANSYS FLUENT is used to model and simulate the food compartment of the refrigerator. Radiation effect has been considered into account while carrying out the simulation. Temperature and air flow distribution contours along with air velocities at specific locations have been presented and analyzed. It is observed that forced convection mode of operation results in better refrigeration effect. It also concluded that radiation plays a vital role in the temperature distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]