Refrigerated display cases air curtain guiding vanes

This laboratory study was conducted to investigate the benefits of installing air vanes on vertical open refrigerated display cases. Air vanes are thin rigid strips attached to the end of each shelf. They are positioned perpendicularly across the air curtain profile of the display case, and help direct the air flow down, strengthening the barrier between the refrigerated space and the warm moist air outside the display case. Performance benefits were quantified by the amount of infiltration load reduction achieved by having air vanes in the case compared to the baseline setup without air vanes. This laboratory study was conducted to investigate the benefits of installing air vanes on vertical open refrigerated display cases. Air vanes are thin rigid strips attached to the end of each shelf. They are positioned perpendicularly across the air curtain profile of the display case, and help direct the air flow down, strengthening the barrier between the refrigerated space and the warm moist air outside the display case. Performance benefits were quantified by the amount of infiltration load reduction achieved by having air vanes in the case compared to the baseline setup without air vanes. Two air vane designs were evaluated and labeled Air Vane 1 and Air Vane 2. Because these display cases were used for all sorts of perishable food products, two typical temperature set points were selected – one for merchandizing meat at a Discharge Air Temperature (DAT) of 32°F, and the other for merchandizing produce at a DAT of 37°F. To take advantage of the expected effects of the air vanes, two other conditions were added to adjust the DAT and defrost schedule. Two air vane designs were evaluated and labeled Air Vane 1 and Air Vane 2. Because these display cases were used for all sorts of perishable food products, two typical temperature set points were selected – one for merchandizing meat at a Discharge Air Temperature (DAT) of 32°F, and the other for merchandizing produce at a DAT of 37°F. To take advantage of the expected effects of the air vanes, two other conditions were added to adjust the DAT and defrost schedule. Considering the large presence of open vertical refrigerated display cases in SCE’s service territory, the energy savings may have a large impact on supermarkets and the power grid. A typical 50,000-foot[2] supermarket[3] could expect to save around 50,000 kWh annually, assuming 8,760 hours of annual operation time. This could reduce SCE’s power demand by roughly 15 MW, assuming full market saturation.