Optimization of a food regeneration climatic chamber via computational fluid dynamics

The main focus of the project is to provide a methodology to reduce the time and costs related to the evaluation of the performance of structural modifications applied to an innovative climatic chamber prototype aiming at representing an efficient alternative to traditional ovens for food regeneration during catering events. Currently, structural modifications are always implemented into a new prototype whose performance is evaluated experimentally. A novel workflow is proposed, where a virtual environment, based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), is used to assess and compare possible modifications, thus reducing costs and time needed for the experimental tests. A CFD model is here developed to assess chamber operation and air flows distribution both in presence and in absence of the load, since previous experimental studies showed that the temperature distribution inside the chamber was significantly influenced by load positioning. The goal is to suggest design modifications that can improve air distribution inside the chamber so as to reduce temperature inhomogeneities within the equipment. Two configurations are proposed, which result in different openings of the fins on the air distribution channel. They are compared to the baseline case in presence of the load. Both configurations exhibit a more homogeneous temperature profile and allow reducing the surface temperature of the heating element by almost 20%, reducing consequently the effect of radiant heat, which mostly impacts on the near trays.