Performance study of constant temperature water immersion thawing system using refrigerator compressor casing heat

Five commonly used thawing methods include water immersion (WT), lotic water (LT), ambient temperature (AT), refrigerator (RT), and microwave (MT) thawing. WT, LT, and AT cannot maintain a specified constant temperature during thawing, whereas MT consumes substantial energy. On the basis of the shortcomings of the above methods, a constant temperature water immersion thawing system using fixed-frequency refrigerator compressor casing heat storage (CWT-CCTS) is designed. The CWT-CCTS recycles the waste heat of the compressor casing and uses the heat to thaw frozen food in constant temperature water. The new system not only provides a new heat source for thawing but also reduces the overall energy consumption and noise of the system during operation. Under a stable full-load operating condition of the refrigerator, CWT-CCTS can reduce the compressor casing and discharge temperatures by 3.8°C and 2.5°C, respectively. The water loss rate of CWT-CCTS is only 15.9% of MT, demonstrating a decrease of 84.1%. In terms of thawing, the maximum power consumption saved by the device is 516.79 kW·h per year in comparison with MT, and the cost of the device can be recovered after 178 days of use