Moisture transfer and energy losses of household refrigeratorfreezer during the closed door operation

• Main Authors: Hasanuzzaman, M., Saidur, Rahman, Masjuki, Haji Hassan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering 2008
• Subjects: TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/6801/1/Moisture_transfer_and_energy_losses_of_household_refrigeratorfreezer_during_the_closed_door_operation_%282%29.pdf; http://eprints.um.edu.my/6801/; https://icmsm2009.um.edu.my/filebank/published_article/2352/696.pdf
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

This paper presents the moisture transfer and energy losses due to moisture of household refrigerator-freezer during the closed door operation. Moisture transfer into the cabinet takes place by two ways of gasket diffusion and cabinet breathing. Experiments were conducted in the controlled chamber to investigate the effects of the ambient temperature, cabinet load, thermostat set position and open surface water pan area inside the cabinet on moisture transfer. The average gasket diffusion and cabinet breathing moisture transfer is about 4.6 kg/year and 18 kg/year respectively. In this experimental investigation, it is found that the average energy consumption of the refrigerator-freezer in kWh/day is about 2.9, 2.8, 2.8 and 2.9 due to the ambient temperature, cabinet load, thermostat set position and open surface water pan area respectively. The ambient temperature and open surface water pan area inside the cabinet have strong influence on gasket diffusion and cabinet breathing moisture transfer respectively. The extra energy consumption due to the gasket diffusion and cabinet breathing moisture transfer has been calculated and found as 1.3 kWh/year and 4.9 kWh/year respectively. The ambient temperature and cabinet load has strong influence on energy consumption compared to the thermostat setting position and open surface water pan area inside the cabinet. The average energy consumption is about 1043 kWh/year of the refrigeratorfreezer.