Assessment of the cooling capacity of the refrigeration unit of a motor vehicle

The need for isothermal vans for the transportation of perishable goods and cargo is currently relevant in our country. An acute problem is also the evaluation of refrigerators in order to determine the most important indicator of the quality of the insulation of the van — the heat transfer coefficient and the efficiency (cooling capacity) of the automobile refrigeration unit. According to Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 21, 2020 No. 2200 “On approval of the Rules for the carriage of goods by road and on amendments to clause 2.1.1 of the Rules of the Road of the Russian Federation”, the draft Law of the Russian Federation “On the requirements for vehicles intended for the transport of perishable food products”, all specialized vehicles in operation on the territory of the Russian Federation and duly registered are subject to assessment of compliance with international standards. In this regard, the relevance of this problem is obvious. It requires an immediate solution to the current situation. In order to check the efficiency of refrigeration equipment, as well as to classify an isothermal vehicle equipped with a refrigeration unit to one or another class of refrigerated vehicle during certification, tests are carried out to measure the refrigeration unit’s cooling capacity. Recently, a number of works devoted to obtaining similar results have been published. But the question of the mechanism for determining the exact characteristics of automotive refrigeration equipment has not been fully disclosed. The emphasis on the study of the properties and characteristics of specialized vehicles, as well as the choice of refrigerated trucks for the transportation of perishable goods and cargo was made in the works of A. Gryzunov, V. Kornienko, S. Vavilova [2–5]. The result of the study is to study in detail the existing regulatory framework and, on the basis of it, develop a methodology, a model that differs from those currently available, to facilitate, simplify the test to determine the main characteristics of automotive refrigeration equipment. The article presents the features and capabilities of an isothermal chamber for testing vehicles and refrigeration equipment. The device of the camera and the equipment used are described. A test procedure for measuring the cooling capacity of an automobile refrigeration unit is described. The results of an experimental evaluation of the refrigeration capacity of the refrigeration unit of an isothermal car van are presented. The testing methodology has its origin in the master’s final qualifying work “Theoretical foundations of thermophysical tests of special vehicles.” The practical significance of the presented results lies in the fact that this technique simplifies the process and reduces the time for testing, without changing the quality of the results obtained.