Study on the effect of aluminium foil on packaging thermal insulation performance in cold chain logistics

Abstract This study developed a mathematical model to analyse the effect of aluminium foil on packaging thermal insulation performance in cold chain logistics. The maximum insulation time (MIT) was adopted to quantify the thermal insulation performance of the packaging boxes. The heat penetration rate of the insulation box was verified through the ice melting test. The numerical relationship between the MIT and the phase‐change material (PCM) complete melting time was obtained, and the thermal insulation performance of different insulation boxes was further studied. The results showed, when k = 0.5593 and C = −3.4614, the mathematical model was in good agreement with the thermal insulation performance of the packaging box. It demonstrated that the method of linear fitting the MIT through the PCM complete melting time effectively assessed the thermal insulation performance of the packaging with aluminium foil. Moreover, the thermal insulation performance of adding aluminium foil to the inner surface of the insulating material outperformed the outer surface. An increase of 25.39% and 4.03% in MIT was obtained from adding aluminium foil to the inner surface and the outer surface compared with the insulating material without aluminium foil. Adding aluminium foil to the double‐sided surface of the insulating material achieved more significant insulation performance. The MIT increased by 28.70% and 2.64%, respectively, compared with the material without aluminium foil and adding aluminium foil to the inner surface of the insulating material.