Modular modelling and simulation approach - applied to refrigeration systems

This paper presents an approach to modelling and simulation of the thermal dynamics of a refrigeration system, specifically a reefer container. A modular approach is used and the objective is to increase the speed and flexibility of the developed simulation environment. The refrigeration system is divided into components where the inputs and outputs are described by a set of XML files that can be combined into a composite system model that may be loaded into MATLAB^trade. A set of tools that allows the user to easily load the model and run a simulation are provided. The results show a simulation speed-up of more than a factor of three by partitioning the model into smaller parts, and thereby isolating fast and slow dynamics. As a cost there is a reduction in accuracy which in the example considered is less than one percent.