conductive surfaces is first calculated for a total of 13 numerical runs at 3 different container

geometries. Then substituting the total heat gain, q J

, and the temperature difference  Tsm  Tm 
J


for a specified flow and geometric conditions into Eq. 19 yields the overall averaged heat transfer

coefficient and consequently the mean Nusselt number (Num) of the container. As shown in Fig. 17,

the least square linear regression analysis applied to the studied cases of half-span injection yields

the following correlation,

 L 
 0 .6 3

0 .7 6
Nu  0 .0 4 1 R e * (24)
m H

in which, 2.7  105  R e*  3.5  10 6 , and 2 .45  L H  5.32 . Defining the percentage of error in

Num representation as,

Num    N u m 

e  co rrela tio n n u m erica l
 100 (25)
 Nu m 
co rrela tio n

Then, Eq. (24), providing a correlation coefficient of 0.994, represents the numerical data with a

maximum deviation of 10.8%. The thermo-physical properties of air are evaluated at the container

mean temperature, Tm.

6.4 Thermal characteristics for full-span injection; Case 2

Flow analysis for L / H  5.32 indicates that full-span injection retards the flow separation and

decreases the size of recirculation zone at low flow rates ( R e  2  10 4 ), but at large flow rates just
27

Page 27 of 49
the reverse takes place ( R e  2  10 5 ). As shown in Fig. 18, no appreciable change in temperature

effectiveness is noticed for, L / H  2.45 and 3.33. However, the poor ventilation of the container at

L / H  5.32 results with negative E-values extending almost to the half of the container in Fig. 18,

and points out that the thermal behavior becomes worse than the identical container at half-span

injection for all flow rates.

Similar to Case 1, after evaluating the mean heat transfer coefficients, ( h ), of all
m
containers

configurations, the corresponding mean Nusselt numbers ( Nu ) maym be correlated with the

modified Reynolds number, Re * , and the container aspect ratio, L / H . As a result of linear

regression analysis applied to numerical data, the following correlation is determined:

 L 
1

0 .8 1
Nu  0 .0 5 3 R e * (26)
m H

where the flow and the geometric limits of the correlation are the same as Eq. (24) and the properties

are evaluated at container mean temperature, Tm. Eq. (26) represents the numerical data of full-span

injection case with a maximum deviation of 14.54-percent. Even though the full-span injection

provides higher heat transfer coefficients, the equality of Reynolds numbers necessitates that the

flow rate to be twice of the half-span case. Since the exponent of the aspect-ratio-factor in Nusselt

correlation is lowered from -0.63 to -1.0 by changing the slot size from half to full, the negative

effect of container aspect ratio on heat transfer rate is stronger at full-span injection.

7 Concluding remarks

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Page 28 of 49
In this paper a numerical study of conjugated heat transfer inside a ceiling-slot ventilated container

on turbulent flow regime is presented; where convective heat transfer inside the container is coupled

to heat conduction through opaque walls is analyzed. A total of six configurations which include two

different injection slot size and three different aspect ratios at each slot is considered for numerical

2  10 and 2  105 so that air

4
study. The Reynolds number of injection varies in the range between

velocities needed for refrigerated truck applications are adequately covered. Based on the results it

can be concluded that

1. To evaluate the heat gain through the container conductive walls, the external flow around a

typical refrigerated truck with containers having aspect ratios of 2.45, 3.33, and 5.32 is analyzed and

the corresponding outer surface heat transfer coefficients of conductive walls are determined for

turbulent flow conditions.

2. There is an optimum velocity of injection at which the mean effectiveness (Em) of the container

assumes a maximum value.

3. Referring to temperature distribution effectiveness, the container with an aspect ratio of 3.33 at

half-span injection shows the highest effectiveness for the range of Reynolds numbers (Re) studied.

4. Results from the analysis of air ventilation indicate that at L H  5 .3 2 and R e  2  10 4 , the

ventilation effectiveness is less than unity (η < 1) and the velocities are close to zero in almost half

of the container. This result is also supported by the distribution of isotherms at the same flow and

geometric conditions and makes air almost stagnant which is not recommended.

5. Correlations for the mean Nusselt number respect to modified Reynolds number and the aspect

ratio are obtained for the ceiling-slot ventilated containers having half-span and full-span injections.

These correlations represent the numerical results with a maximum of 14.54-percent of error and are

2.7  10 and 3.5  10

5 6
valid for modified Reynolds numbers in the range of and for the container

aspect ratios varying between 2.45 and 5.32.

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Page 29 of 49
6. Considering the dominant effect of container geometry on heat transfer, and the excess flow rate

needed at full-span injection, the heat transfer characteristics of the container with half-span

injection are better than the full-span case.

The present work suggests a first CFD analysis toward a better understanding and prediction of heat

loads and thermal characteristics of airflow during the motion of refrigerated trucks at three different

aspect ratios. Due to complexity of inner flow at loaded conditions, experimental work certainly

needed to better stick to reality in mathematical modeling. On a scaled down test-rig, the effect of

loading scenario on ventilation and temperature effectiveness of the truck may be studied and the

resulting deviations respect to empty case may be analyzed.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial assistance of Republic of Turkey Ministry of

Science, Industry and Technology under the grant number: 01114.STZ.2011-2 and Dokuz Eylül

University Scientific Research Foundation Grant BAP-Project number: 2013.KB.FEN.9.

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