Study of water evaporation and condensation in a domestic refrigerator loaded by wet product

This study was carried out to gain a better insight into evaporation and condensation phenomena due to natural convection in a domestic refrigerator. An experiment was undertaken in a refrigerator loaded with 40 humid plaster cylinders (50 mm diameter). The weight variation of the cylinders was followed over 12 days and the rate of water evaporation (or condensation for some cylinders) was calculated. This measured experimental rate was compared with one obtained from a CFD simulation which took into account air flow by free convection, heat transfer (convection, conduction and radiation) and mass transfer (water evaporation and condensation). The position of high evaporation or condensation rate was well predicted despite the fact that the simulation most often underestimated the experimental values. Near the cold wall where condensation was observed (or near the warm wall where evaporation was observed), the cylinder temperature was lower (or higher) than that of air. This demonstrates the importance of the radiative exchanges between the walls and the products inside a refrigerator which in turn can explain condensation or dehydration phenomena.