Numerical modelling of thermal systems for professional food service appliances

Numerical models are very popular in industry thanks to their efficiency in terms of time saving and high level of details for the investigation of the physical phenomena. In industrial applications a numerical model has to be accurate in reproducing the physical phenomena, but at the same time robust and computationally efficient. These three aspects are quite in disagree when complex physical phenomena occur, because a high level of accuracy often is reached by the use of complex numerical models which, however, require a lot of computational effort. In this thesis three numerical models aim to reproduce in a computationally-efficient and robust way the thermal behaviour of some technologies used for food service professional appliances: each model presents a different strategy to simulate the physics behind each process. The reliability of these virtual models is achieved by extensive validation processes with experimental data obtained by the use of test rigs, which have been designed in Electrolux Professional’s laboratories.

Numerical models are very popular in industry thanks to their efficiency in terms of time saving and high level of details for the investigation of the physical phenomena. In industrial applications a numerical model has to be accurate in reproducing the physical phenomena, but at the same time robust and computationally efficient. These three aspects are quite in disagree when complex physical phenomena occur, because a high level of accuracy often is reached by the use of complex numerical models which, however, require a lot of computational effort. In this thesis three numerical models aim to reproduce in a computationally-efficient and robust way the thermal behaviour of some technologies used for food service professional appliances: each model presents a different strategy to simulate the physics behind each process. The reliability of these virtual models is achieved by extensive validation processes with experimental data obtained by the use of test rigs, which have been designed in Electrolux Professional’s laboratories.