Experimental and computational investigation of the thermal performance of a vertical tube evaporative condenser. (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wei, Junqing; Liu, Jinping; Xu, Xiongwen; Ruan, Jiangao; Li, Guoli
• Is Part Of: Applied thermal engineering. Volume 160(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: Evaporative condenser -- Vertical tube -- Heat and mass transfer -- Modeling -- Air-conditioning; Heat engineering -- Periodicals; Heating -- Equipment and supplies -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 621.40205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114100
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-4311

Abstract

Highlights: A vertical tube evaporative condenser is applied in a small refrigeration system. The coefficient of performance for the system is improved by 30%. The proportion of wetted area on the vertical tubes is studied. A numerical model is proposed to analyze the heat and mass transfer processes. Abstract: In the last few years, intense efforts have been devoted to the application of evaporative condensers in small residential refrigeration systems. In this work, a vertical tube evaporative condenser was designed to replace the finned tube-type air-cooled condenser in a commercially available household central air conditioner. Experimental and computational studies were conducted to investigate the thermal performance of the vertical tube evaporative condenser in the refrigeration system. The experimental results show that the COP (Coefficient of Performance) of the system increased by approximately 30%. Experimental correlations were developed from the experimental results for the proportion of wetted area and the water film heat transfer coefficient. The proportion of wetted area is a function of the water film Reynolds number and airflow Reynolds number, whereas the film heat transfer coefficient is a function of the water film Reynolds number and the Prandtl number. Moreover, a numerical model was presented to predict the thermal performance of the condenser, which provides insights into the intrinsic links between the operating condition and the relative heat transfer characteristics.