Passive Cooling Technologies for Reducing the Heating of Containers

Vetter, Tanja and Schneider, Norbert and Dinnebier, Heinrich (2024) Passive Cooling Technologies for Reducing the Heating of Containers. KEEP ON PLANNING FOR THE REAL WORLD. Climate Change calls for Nature-based Solutions and Smart Technologies. Proceedings of REAL CORP 2024, 29th International Conference on Urban Development, Regional Planning and Information Society. pp. 805-810. ISSN 2521-3938

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Abstract

Containers are widely used within the Bundeswehr, especially in military camps. These containers often overheat, most notably in southern areas. High temperatures can cause problems like accelerated ageing of stored material or failure of electronic equipment running inside. Air conditioning systems can counteract this but consume high amounts of energy and require regular maintenance. Passive cooling technologies, i.e. technologies that cool without requiring additional energy, are intended to alleviate this problem. The simplest passive cooling technology is shading e.g. by applying additional roofing or camouflage nets. However, the disadvantages are the additional required material and the assembly and disassembly whenever the container is moved. New technologies for passive cooling are based on different mechanisms: Coatings can reduce the solar heat-up either by being highly reflective or through a novel mechanism called passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC). Another technique is the use of heat storage panels, which contain phase change material (PCM) to minimize the daytime heating of the containers. Furthermore, spacer fabrics on the surface of containers allow cooling based on the chimney effect. To evaluate the passive cooling power of the different technologies, containers were equipped with three different cooling coating systems, heat storage panels, spacer fabrics, roofing and camouflage net. Two regular containers were used as a baseline. Temperature was measured at each container at different spots inside and outside. Further, every container was equipped with an air conditioning system and a power meter to measure energy consumption. All containers with passive cooling technologies showed lower temperatures compared to the reference containers. The power measurements confirmed a lower energy consumption of the air-conditioning systems. PDRC coatings, PCMs und spacer fabrics show a better passive cooling power than shadowing like e.g. roofing. PDRC coatings were the most effective technology overall in this setup, but dependent on the application scenarios, the other passive cooling systems can also be powerful.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	energy, planning, climate change, cooling, container
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor Q Science > QC Physics T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Depositing User:	REAL CORP Administrator
Date Deposited:	30 Apr 2024 09:59
Last Modified:	10 May 2024 08:40
URI:	http://repository.corp.at/id/eprint/1148

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