Comparison between Water and N-Tetradecane as Insulation Materials through Modeling and Simulation of Heat Transfer in Packaging Box for Vaccine Shipping

Abstract

This study reports on the modeling and simulation of heat transfer in packaging boxes used for vaccine shipping. Both water and n-tetradecane are used as primary insulation materials inside a multi-slab system. The one-dimensional model, which is a spherical model using a radius equivalent to the rectangular geometry of container, is applied in this study. N-tetradecane with low thermal diffusivity and proper phase transition temperature exhibits higher heat transfer resistance during both heating and cooling processes compared to water. Thus, n-tetradecane is a better candidate as an insulating material for packaging containers for vaccine shipping. Furthermore, the developed method can also become a rapid and economic tool for screening appropriate phase change materials used as insulation materials with suitable properties in logistics applications.