Experimental and numerical investigation of thermal and flow conditions inside a large pharmaceutical storage after the ventilation system failure

Abstract

Safe storage of pharmaceutical products is of great importance due to potential hazards for human health. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of pharmaceutical storage to recover design temperature during ventilation system recovery. The performed CFD simulations showed good agreement with experimental temperature measurements. Numerical results allowed in-depth analysis of flow field and temperature distribution inside the storage. It was discovered that the flow field is highly non-uniform, which consequently leads to an uneven temperature distribution of pallets with products. However, a high inlet mass-flow rate ensured that all pallets reach the designed temperature.