How Does Van Refrigeration Work?
Since there are numerous companies that transport cold and even frozen food from one location to the next, refrigerated vans are always going to be an important part of their business. Indeed, vans that can keep foods at the proper temperature until they get to their destination need some type of refrigeration because if food gets above a certain temperature, bacteria can form and anyone who eats it could get sick. No company wants this to happen because they know they are ultimately responsible for anyone who gets sick, which is why these refrigerated vans are so important.
Are They Complicated?
Refrigerated vans all work basically the same way, and they are not really all that complicated. If you’re wondering how the transport cooling system works, it consists of four basic parts, which include:
● The compressor
● The condenser
● The expansion valve
● The evaporator
To start with, there is a pipe that runs between these four parts, and a fluid passes through that pipe to keep things cool. A liquid refrigerant collects heat from one area and dumps it into another area. There are also four main stages in this cycle, and during these stages, both the pressure and the temperature change.
Stage one is where the entire process begins, and it starts at the compressor. Some of it is a little complicated to describe here, but the first stage always happens at the compressor area.
In the second stage of the refrigeration cycle, the condenser gets used when the refrigerant enters it as a gas that is both high pressure and very hot. The refrigerant passes through all of the coils in the condenser, and this is the place where the heat from inside of the van’s cargo area is dumped. In addition, the outside air is drawn over the condenser coils via the fan. This causes the heat to dissipate, then the refrigerant loses its temperature at that point. If you’ve ever noticed coils on the outside of a van, these are the condenser coils, and they are usually mounted on the roof of the van, although they can be found in other places as well.
Stage three happens at the expansion valve, which is designed to regulate the flow of the refrigerant around the entire system.
Finally, in stage four, the final stage, the refrigerant goes into the evaporator but is a low-pressure cold liquid at this point. It then passes through the evaporator coil. The evaporator itself can be found inside of the cargo area of a refrigerated van. There is also an evaporator fan that pulls that air over the evaporator coil and fins. Next, that air travels across the evaporator, transferring the cold from the fins and coil then circulating that air through the van. At the same time, the refrigerant absorbs any warmer air that might have leaked into the cargo area and transfers the air to the condenser so that it can be dumped. This is a low-pressure warm gas that then gets sucked into the compressor, and at this point the entire cycle starts all over again.
This is a simple explanation of how refrigerated van systems work, but it’s enough to give you an idea of what goes on to keep everything inside the van nice and cool.
Very Reliable Systems
So if you’ve ever asked yourself, are van fridges the same as home fridges, now you know they are not. Although some of the components and the refrigeration process may be the same between the two refrigerated items, these are not just basic refrigerators that are in a slightly different shape. Indeed, these refrigeration systems are specially made for vans that carry all types of foods, as well as other products such as medications and more.
