PROJECTS

SCOPE

The increasing demand for the level of quality of products and their components, tests involving the use of climatic chambers are increasingly required. This has corresponded to continued market growth for this type of testing. However, some areas still need climatic chamber improvement, notably electronic control with the introduction of touch screens based on intuitive icons. Many customers are looking for better ways to measure relative humidity, built-in controllers to regulate the climatic chamber, and data acquisition options; or even a demand for the reduction in power requirements and their consumption, leading to a reduction in operating costs; or even a significant improvement in interface design and ease of use of the software.
Energy efficiency in refrigeration equipment is also an increasingly important factor for industry, trade and households, due to the magnitude that such equipment represents in electricity consumption.
After an in-depth analysis of this climatic chamber segment, Aralab acknowledged that there was a frank margin of opportunity to improve its offer in this area, through the development of a new segment of climatic chambers, with differentiating characteristics that allow overcoming the recognised limitations and endorsing them with new innovative specifications.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

• Reduce the energy consumption of current climate chambers;
• Increase the number of innovative technologies;
• Reduction of sound power level;
• Improve the insulation of the climatic chambers;
• Reduction of equipment production time;
• Increase of the number of pre-assembled parts.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

• Preliminary studies
• Design, development and characterisation of the system
• Productive approach, including prototyping
• Validation
• Dissemination of results

Preliminary studies - Preliminary studies intend to: consolidate the state-of-the-art analysis in relation to the existing climate chambers in the market, conducting a benchmarking study and defining the functional requirements to be imposed on the new segment of climate chambers, in view of the technologies and specifications that are intended to be incorporated, as well as the recommendations and legislation applicable in potential export markets. The environmental sustainability requirements of the developing system will also be verified in order to enhance the use of more sustainable materials and technologies.

Design, development and characterisation of the system - The design, development and characterisation of the system will take into account the preliminary study carried out and also the need to consider prefabrication of components, in order to allow adaptability to the specific requirements of each application, thus allowing not only the reduction of production and transport costs but also, and mainly, the reduction of operating costs. The materials and technologies to be incorporated into the new chambers will also be defined, with the main objectives of achieving better energy efficiency, greater environmental sustainability and ensuring better competitiveness in the international market.

Productive approach, including prototyping - This activity will consider the manufacturing constraints, the necessary human and material resources, and execution times. The integration into the prototypes of the various optional kits will also be tested, culminating in the real-scale materialization of a functional prototype.

Validation - Through the evaluation of the performance of the prototype, it is intended to validate the technical solutions used in the manufacture of the chamber. The prototype will be thoroughly tested and monitored. Its energy efficiency will be assessed taking into account the various usage scenarios. A complete analysis of the life cycle of the final product will also be carried out.

Dissemination of results - To disseminate the results of the project will be prepared the following contents: generic presentations of the project; brochures; development of project website, and other content for promotional purposes; disseminate, from technical-scientific publications, scientific and technical knowledge generated from the research work and practical results achieved in speciality journals and newspapers; promote the official presentation of the prototypes at specialised fairs, namely "Achema" and the Automotive testing expo; and finally, at the end of the project a conclusion event will be held for the public presentation of the achieved results.

MAIN RESULTS

The main objectives and innovative features idealised for the ClimTestE+ project and the results achieved were as follows:

• Energy efficiency
  Project objectives: Reduction of consumption by 40-50 %
  Objectives achieved: Reduction between 24 and 75%
• Number of innovative technologies
  Project Objectives: Ensuring the inclusion of 5 innovative technologies
  Objectives achieved: Integration of 6 innovative technologies
• Number of remotely controlled parameters
  Project Objectives: Increase to 80 the number of remotely controlled parameters
  Objectives achieved: 90 new parameters
• Thickness of Thermal Insulation of the climatic chamber walls
  Project Objectives: Reduce to 100 mm
  Achievement goals: Reduction to 100 mm
• Sound power level
  Project Objectives: Reduction of sound power level by 10dB
  Objectives achieved: Reduction between 2.9 and 12.1dB (A)
• Number of hours of skilled labor used in the assembly of the climatic chamber
  Project Objectives: Reduction to 50h
  Objectives achieved: Assembly time of 49 h
• Duration of operation of thermal insulation incorporation
  Project objectives: Reduction to 30min
  Achievements: Duration less than 30min (use of blower)
• Number of pre-assembled parts
  Project Objectives: Ensure the use of 8 pre-assembled parts
  Objectives achieved: 7 pre-assembled parts
• Number of integrated technological systems
  Project objectives: Increase to 4 the number of integrated technological systems
  Objectives achieved: 3 new integrated systems

LIST OF COMMUNICATIONS

Four trips were made to congresses, where the following papers were presented:

• Tadeu, C. Serra, N. Simões, M. Gonçalves, " Simulation of 3D heat diffusion in defective multilayered systems for infrared thermography applications in buildings" BEM/MRM 39, 20-22 Setembro 2016, Siena, Itália
  which includes the thermographic study carried out on the surrounding of the climate chamber.
• R. Silva, M. Brett, M. Fino, A. Ferreira, A. Tadeu, "CFD Modelling and Experimental Validation of the Fluid Dynamics in a Climatic Chamber". International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Science - ICCES2017, 26-30 Junho 2017, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.
  where work related to CFD modeling of the interior of the chamber was disclosed.
• Ferreira, T. Thiis, “Comparison Between Wind Tunnel And Computational Predictions Of The Shear Velocity Distribution Along A Flat Roof With Solar Panels”, EACWE2017, 3-6 Julho 2017, Liège, Bélgica.
  where developments and scientific results associated with wind action were presented.
• Tadeu, J. Prata, N. Simões, "BEM model to study the 3D heat flow through a corner" BEM/MRM 40, 12-14 Setembro 2017, New Forest, Reino Unido
  with reference to the work carried out in the numerical analysis of the thermal bridges of the climatic chamber.

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

The research developed during the project also allowed the submission of two articles:

• Scientific journal Applied Energy:
  Nuno Simões, Joana Prata, António Tadeu, “3D dynamic simulation of heat conduction through a building corner using a BEM model in frequency domain”, 2017.
• Scientific journal Applied Thermal Engineering:
  R. Silva, M. Brett, Almerindo D. Ferreira, C. Serra, T. Jesus, M. Fino, A. Tadeu, J. Mendes, J. Araújo, R. Santos
  “CFD Modeling and Experimental Validation of the Thermofluidic Performance of a Novel Climatic Chamber Prototype”, 2017.