Improvement in Energy Conservation and Thermal Stability of a Refrigerator through Integration of Phase Change Materials: A CFD Analysis

Reducing the energy consumption of domestic refrigeration appliances has been a key research focus over the past decade. This study presents an innovative approach that integrates phase change materials (PCMs) in household refrigerators to enhance energy efficiency while optimizing storage space utilization. Unlike prior studies, this study comprehensively analyzes the combined effects of PCM placement, five types of PCM, and distribution, filling a critical gap in the literature. A combined vertical and horizontal PCM configuration was implemented, and its impact on the temperature distribution inside the compartments was analyzed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in ANSYS FLUENT. This study evaluated multiple PCM materials, including water, eutectic solutions and commercial PCMs such as Caproic Acid, E3, and Puretemp-2, to identify the most effective materials for thermal stability. This study further explored the impact of various PCMs, revealing diverse cooling patterns and identifying Caproic Acid and E3 as superior choices for stabilizing temperatures within compartments. E3 displayed a slightly better result than Caproic Acid. Conversely, water as a PCM performed poorly. A constant PCM volume was considered for each case, taking only 6.6% of the compartment’s volume. Notably, the results demonstrate a maximum temperature reduction of 8.1% in the top compartment and 5.1% in the bottom compartment during compressor off-cycles, resulting in a 42% reduction in refrigeration load. These findings highlight the potential of PCM integration as a viable approach for enhancing refrigerator energy efficiency while maintaining optimal cooling performance.