Experimental and numerical study of heat transfer across insulation wall of a refrigerated integral panel van

This paper presents an experimental and numerical design study of an insulation wall for refrigerated vans. The thermophysical properties of the insulating multilayer panel, the external environment impact (solar irradiation, temperature, etc.) and durability are taken into account. Different tools are used to characterize the thermal performances of the insulation walls and the thermal properties of the insulation materials are measured. In addition, an experiment at the wall scale is carried out and a 2D FEM model of heat and mass transfer within the wall is formulated. Three configurations are studied with this design approach. Multilayer insulation walls containing reflective multi-foil insulation, aerogel and phase change materials (PCM) are tested. Promising results are obtained with these materials, especially the reduction of peak heat transfer and energy consumption during the daytime period. Furthermore, the major influence of solar irradiation is highlighted as it can increase the peak heat transfer crossing the insulation wall by up to 43%. Nevertheless, we showed that the use of reflective multi-foil insulation and aerogel layers allowed decreasing this impact by 27%. - Highlights: • A design study of an insulation wall for a refrigerated van is carried out. • Experimental and numerical studies of multilayer insulation walls are performed. • The major influence of solar irradiation is highlighted. • New insulation materials (reflective multi-foil, aerogel and PCM) are tested