Numerical simulation of dehumidifying fin-and-tube heat exchangers: Semi-analytical modelling and experimental comparison

The aim of this paper is to present a developed semi-analytical model for the simulation of dehumidifying air–liquid fin-and-tube heat exchangers. The simulation strategy and the mathematical methodology are described in detail. The model is based on -NTU method, and formulated in a compact way for dry and wet surface situations (temperature or enthalpy driven, respectively). Both rating and design procedures have been developed for fully dry, partially wet, or fully wet surface conditions. The model predictions are compared with experimental data obtained on a wavy and a plain finned heat exchanger, giving reasonably accurate results. The limitations of the empirical information used are clearly identified in the work. The aim of this model is to provide a fast but reliable rating and design numerical tool for air–liquid heat exchanger applications.     

Modeling and performance analyses of evaporators in frozen-food supermarket display cabinets at low temperatures

This paper presents modeling and experimental analyses of evaporators in “in situ” frozen-food display cabinets at low temperatures in the supermarket industry. Extensive experiments were conducted to measure store and display cabinet relative humidities and temperatures, and pressures, temperatures and mass flow rates of the refrigerant. The mathematical model adopts various empirical correlations of heat transfer coefficients and frost properties in a fin-tube heat exchanger in order to investigate the influence of indoor conditions on the performance of the display cabinets. The model is validated with the experimental data of “in situ” cabinets. The model would be a good guide tool to the design engineers to evaluate the performance of supermarket display cabinet heat exchangers under various store conditions.     

A study on the performance of multi-stage heat pumps using mixturesEtude sur la performance de pompes à chaleur multi-étagées utilisant des mélanges

Multi-stage heat pumps composed of a condenser, evaporator, compressor, suction line heat exchanger, and low and/or high stage economizers are studied by computer simulation. Their thermodynamic performance and design options are examined for various working fluids. In the simulation, HCFC22/HCFC142b and HFC134a are studied as an interim and long term alternatives for CFC12 while HFC32/HFC134a and HFC125/HFC134a are studied as long term alternatives for HCFC22. The results indicate that the three-stage super heat pump with appropriate mixtures is up to 27.3% more energy efficient than the conventional single-stage system with pure fluids. While many factors contribute to the performance increase of a super heat pump, the most important factor is found to be the temperature matching between the secondary heat transfer fluid and refrigerant mixture, which is followed by the use of a low stage economizer and suction line heat exchanger. The contribution resulting from the use of a high stage economizer, however, is not significant. With the suction line heat exchanger, the system efficiency increases more with the fluids of larger molar liquid specific heats. From the view point of volumetric capacity and energy efficiency, a 40%HCFC22/60%HCFC142b mixture is proposed as an interim alternative for CFC12 while a 25%HFC32/75%HFC134a mixture is proposed as a long term alternative for HCFC22.     

Predicting heat pump performance by thermodynamic generalizations of fluid flow and heat transfer data

Thermodynamic generalizations based on reduced pressure proposed in the 1960s are reviewed and updated to reflect the current state of the art. The application of the method is illustrated by analytical and numerical examples and an assessment made of its value in heat exchanger design practice with special emphasis on two-phase forced convection refrigeration cycle applications. It is shown that this thermodynamic approach provides the heat exchanger designer, and to some extent the system engineer with an additional tool which is simple, effective and above all more reliable, particularly in evaporator and condenser design practice, than current conventional semi-empirical correlations.     

Experimental thermal performance study of an inclined heat pipe heat exchanger operating in high humid tropical HVAC systems

In an earlier paper [Y.H. Yau, Application of a heat pipe heat exchanger to dehumidification enhancement in tropical HVAC systems – a baseline performance characteristics study, International Journal of Thermal Sciences 46 (2) (2007) 164–171], the author had established the baseline performance characteristics of the eight-row wickless heat pipe heat exchanger (HPHX) for a vertical configuration under a range of conditions appropriate for a tropical climate. Now, the same basic experimental set-up was to be used in the present research with the HPHX tilted 30°. In this configuration, the gravitational force would be expected to enhance drainage of any condensation forming on the extended fin surfaces of the HPHX evaporator section, and therefore, the effectiveness of the HPHX could be anticipated to be better than the vertical configuration, particularly when processing inlet air with high RH. The investigation has been carried out for 32 experiments with typically high RH and the results are presented in this paper. The results suggested that the possibly adverse influence of condensate forming on the fins of the HPHX was negligible, and therefore the HPHX in a typically-used vertical configuration could perform equally as well as it would if the HPHX was installed in an inclined position.     

Correction of logarithmic mean temperature difference in a compact brazed plate evaporator assuming heat flux governed flow boiling heat transfer coefficient

The heat transfer in heat exchangers is commonly calculated using the concept of Logarithmic Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD). As is well known this approach is only valid for counter-current and co-current heat exchanger configurations. For other configurations, corrections for the deviation from pure counter-current are introduced. From any standard text book in heat transfer it may be found that the LMTD approach may also be used if condensation and evaporation occurs in the heat exchanger. The purpose of the present paper is to investigate if the LMTD approach can be used in a compact brazed plate evaporator. It will be shown through integration of the governing equations that the LMTD approach indeed may be used for practical cases, even though deviations occur at small logarithmic mean temperature differences. The article presents suggestions on the correction factor (F) needed under some simplified assumptions in a compact brazed plate heat exchanger operating as an evaporator for heat pump and refrigeration applications.     

Radiation and natural convection heat transfer from wire-and-tube heat exchangers in refrigeration appliances

The air-side heat transfer from wire-and-tube heat exchangers of the kind widely used in small refrigeration appliances has been studied. Radiation and free-convection components have been separately investigated. The radiation component was theoretically computed using a diffuse, gray-body network with interactions between each part of the heat exchanger and the surroundings. For the free-convection heat transfer component, a semiempirical correlation was developed on the basis of experimental tests conducted on a set of 42 low-emittance exchangers with various geometrical characteristics. Comparisons between overall heat transfer predictions and a second, independent set of experiments on eight high-emittance exchangers showed satisfactory agreement. The proposed analysis is suitable either to determine the heat transfer performance of an existing (already sized) exchanger or to design a new one for prescribed heat duty and working temperatures.     

Fan supplied heat exchanger fin performance under frosting conditions

In this paper, a validated numerical model for frost growth on heat exchange fins is modified to simulate a fan-supplied finned heat exchanger under refrigeration frosting conditions. It is found that frost growth on refrigeration heat exchangers causes a dramatic drop in the fin heat rate, airflow rate, and fin efficiency while the pressure drop increases. A sensitivity study shows the effects of changing several design parameters including the type of fan.     

Applications and control of air conditioning systems using rapid cycling to modulate capacity

Rapid cycling the compressor of an air conditioning or refrigeration system can be used to modulate capacity, thus offering an alternative to a variable speed compressor. This paper explores design tradeoffs to optimize rapid cycling performance based on experimental results using two different evaporators and changing other components of an air conditioning system. Rapid cycling has inherent compressor lift penalties associated with larger mass flow rates, which need to be minimized. Preventing dryout (superheating) in the evaporator during the off cycle, a major penalty as cycles are lengthened, is also important. Evaporator dryout is minimized by increasing the refrigerant side area and reducing off cycle drainage. Combining a flash gas bypass with a suction line heat exchanger was found to maximize performance during the off cycle while allowing increased cycle lengths without incurring major penalties.     

The effect of hydrophilicity on condensation over various types of fin-and-tube heat exchangers

An experimental study on the behavior of water hold-up by condensation on various shapes of fin-and-tube heat exchangers with different surface hydrophilicity, i.e. dynamic contact angle of surface, was conducted. Condensation experiments were conducted, and the amount of water hold-up was measured. Condensation flow patterns on fins with different surface hydrophilicity were visualized. Results showed that the water hold-up of a heat exchanger could be reduced by the enhancement of the surface hydrophilicity and the design of a heat exchanger with a lower number of fins and fins with slant ends.     

Prediction of ice slurry performance in a corrugated tube heat exchanger

Ice slurry performance in a concentric corrugated tube heat exchanger is experimentally studied in this work in order to compare experimental results to theoretical prediction obtained using the correlations proposed in previous papers. Once the validity of those correlations is verified, the behaviour of the studied heat exchanger is analyzed for different ice slurry flow conditions and compared to the results obtained when a heterogeneous storage is used and only carrier fluid flows through the heat exchanger. According to the performance evaluation criterion used – variation in heat transfer rate for equal pressure drop and surface area – the most remarkable conclusion obtained is that slurry improves the behaviour of the heat exchanger studied for all the cases analyzed, although the increase in heat transfer rate is always lower than 15%, being in most cases lower than 5%.     

An experimental investigation of heat transfer and friction losses of interrupted and wavy fins for fin-and-tube heat exchangers

The present paper discusses the results of an extensive investigation about the performance of various fin configurations, carried out in the Luve Contardo experimental facilities and aimed to enhance the heat transfer capabilities of air-cooled condensers and liquid coolers. Test results here discussed are relative to 15 coil prototypes, having the same tube and fin geometry (25×21.65 mm staggered 5/8” tube banks, 2 mm fin spacing) but different fin surface geometry, from flat to wavy to louvered to “winglet”. Different rates of heat transfer and pressure loss enhancement were obtained, also depending on the quality of the pressing process. General approaches to evaluate the “goodness” of one fin design with respect to another one provided questionable results: pressure loss influence on the air flow cannot be properly evaluated unless the actual fan head curve and the coil dimensions (front area and rows number) are stipulated. The performance of air-cooled condensers was therefore predicted and compared, for various fin design and for coil arrangements of practical interest. The type of fin adopted strongly influences the heat exchanger performance and louvered fins generally provide the best results.     

Heat transfer characteristics of flat plate finned-tube heat exchangers with large fin pitch

The objective of this study is to provide experimental data that can be used in the optimal design of flat plate finned-tube heat exchangers with large fin pitch. In this study, 22 heat exchangers were tested with a variation of fin pitch, number of tube row, and tube alignment. The air-side heat transfer coefficient decreased with a reduction of the fin pitch and an increase of the number of tube row. The reduction in the heat transfer coefficient of the four-row heat exchanger coil was approximately 10% as the fin pitch decreased from 15.0 to 7.5 mm over the Reynolds number range of 500–900 that was calculated based on the tube diameter. For all fin pitches, the heat transfer coefficient decreased as the number of tube row increased from 1 to 4. The staggered tube alignment improved heat transfer performance more than 10% compared to the inline tube alignment. A heat transfer correlation was developed from the measured data for flat plate finned-tubes with large fin pitch. The correlation yielded good predictions of the measured data with mean deviations of 3.8 and 6.2% for the inline and staggered tube alignment, respectively.     

Influence of adsorption cycle limitations on the system performance

The economics of heat driven heat pumps are governed by two thermodynamic quantities: the performance on the one hand and the size of the heat exchangers, which is required to obtain this performance, on the other hand. The aim of this paper is to discuss the influence of the main features of adsorption cycles in comparison to absorption cycles on these quantities. In our case, a Zeolite UCC16×40-type 13X has been taken as the adsorbent. The analysis has already been used for absorption heat pumps. In the case of adsorption and other solid sorption chillers, additional limitations appear, e.g. identical design of all adsorbers, incomplete heat recovery between adsorbers, cycling of inert mass, etc., which all contribute to a lowering of the system performance or to an increase of the exchange area required. To show the basic differences between absorption and adsorption cycle optimization, and also to show the impact of physical or technical limitations on the adsorption chiller performance, a detailed analysis has been performed. It is confirmed that it is mainly the lack of a solution heat exchanger which lowers the adsorption system COP and not physical properties of the working pair, so there is still a lot of room for improvement in the solid-sorption of heat pumps.     

Heat transfer enhancement by winglet-type vortex generator arrays in compact plain-fin-and-tube heat exchangers

The potential of winglet type vortex generator (VG) arrays for air-side heat transfer enhancement is experimentally evaluated by full-scale wind-tunnel testing of a compact plain-fin-and-tube heat exchanger. The effectiveness of a 3VG alternate-tube inline array of vortex generators is compared to a single-row vortex generator design and the baseline configuration. The winglets are placed in a common-flow-up orientation for improved tube wake management. The overall heat transfer and pressure drop performance are assessed under dry-surface conditions over a Reynolds number range based on hydraulic diameter of 220 ≤ Re ≤ 960. It is found that the air-side heat transfer coefficient increases from 16.5% to 44% for the single-row winglet arrangement with an increase in pressure drop of less than 12%. For the three-row vortex generator array, the enhancement in heat transfer coefficient increases with Reynolds number from 29.9% to 68.8% with a pressure drop penalty from 26% at Re = 960 to 87.5% at Re = 220. The results indicate that vortex generator arrays can significantly enhance the performance of fin-tube heat exchangers with flow depths and fin densities typical to those used in air-cooling and refrigeration applications.     

Performance of finned-tube heat exchangers under frosting conditions: I. Simulation model

This paper describes an analytical model that was developed to predict the performance of finned-tube heat exchangers under frosting conditions. The method models the frost growth mechanism and heat exchanger performance in a comprehensive manner. The results include frost accumulation and its effect on energy transfer in relation to varying humidities, fin densities and ambient conditions.     

Energy-efficient flat-tube heat exchangers for indirectly cooled display cabinets

Different designs of flat-tube heat exchangers with plain fins have been evaluated theoretically in a parameter study in order to evaluate their performance potential in indirectly cooled display cabinets. Two different types of flat-tube heat exchangers were considered; one with serpentine fins and one with continuous plate fins. Both flat-tube heat exchanger types were adapted to the laminar flow regime on the liquid as well as on the air side. The performance of the two heat exchanger types had previously been verified experimentally under dehumidifying conditions. The results from this parameter study show that considerable savings in the required electric drive power to compressors, pumps and fans can be obtained in comparison with the traditional cooling coil. The savings may be up to 15%. In addition, the required temperature difference for the flat-tube heat exchangers is so small that frost-free operation is possible, which would result in even larger savings.     

Simulation of a transcritical CO2 heat pump cycle for simultaneous cooling and heating applications

A steady state simulation model has been developed to evaluate the system performance of a transcritical carbon dioxide heat pump for simultaneous heating and cooling. The simulated results are found to be in reasonable agreement with experimental results reported in the literature. Such a system is suitable, for example, in dairy plants where simultaneous cooling at 4 °C and heating at 73 °C are required. The optimal COP was found to be a function of the compressor speed, the coolant inlet temperature to the evaporator and inlet temperature of the fluid to be heated in the gas cooler and compressor discharge pressure. An optimizing study for the best allocation of the fixed total heat exchanger inventory between the evaporator and the gas cooler based on the heat exchanger area has been carried out. Effect of heat transfer in the heat exchangers on system performance has been presented as well. Finally, a novel nomogram has been developed and it is expected to offer useful guidelines for system design and its optimisation.     

Prediction of the heat transfer rate of a single layer wire-on-tube type heat exchanger using ANFIS

In this paper, we applied an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) model for prediction of the heat transfer rate of the wire-on-tube type heat exchanger. Limited experimental data was used for training and testing ANFIS configuration with the help of hybrid learning algorithm consisting of backpropagation and least-squares estimation. The predicted values are found to be in good agreement with the actual values from the experiments with mean relative error less than 2.55%. Also, we compared the proposed ANFIS model to an ANN approach. Results show that the ANFIS model has more accuracy in comparison to ANN approach. Therefore, we can use ANFIS model to predict the performances of thermal systems in engineering applications, such as modeling heat exchangers for heat transfer analysis.     

Fan-less heat exchanger concept for CO2 heat pump systems

A novel system for space heating has been developed taking advantage of the favourable characteristics of the transcritical CO₂ cycle, where heat is rejected by cooling of supercritical gas at gliding temperature. By a proper design of a counter flow heat exchanger it is possible to heat air to high temperatures and thereby giving the driving force for circulation of air through the heat exchanger, in consequence without using a fan. A concept without a fan, here called a fan-less concept, would give several advantages; no noise, no power consumption for the fan and increased comfort with reduced air draft in the room. The concept may also be used for heat rejection in systems for light commercial applications or other applications where fan assisted heat rejection concepts are used today.

An experimental study of a CO₂ to air heat exchanger has been performed. The heat exchanger was made of a vertically finned aluminium profile. Tubes for CO₂ were mounted in the base of the profile. CO₂ at supercritical pressure flowing downwards through the profile was heating air flowing in the channels formed by the fins of the profile. In this way a perfect counter flow heat exchange was obtained. The prototype heat exchanger was 2000 mm high and 190 mm wide, with 45 mm deep fins.

A simulation model was developed and verified to give good accordance with the experimental data. The model was then used to study how different design parameters influence the efficiency of the heat exchanger. By altering the number of fins and the fin thickness of the tested profile, the heat output at a given condition could be increased to almost double, meaning that the initial design was relatively far from optimal.

With the original heat exchanger profile design concept a heat exchanger with height, width and depth of, respectively 2000, 750 and 200 mm, would be required in order to achieve a heat output of 2500 W if the constraints for assumed acceptable efficiency was applied. If a heat exchanger with less height is preferred, the width will have to be increased in order to maintain about the same front area, width times height. Ideas have also been introduced for how to improve both the compactness and efficiency of the heat exchanger by introducing a compact counter flow heat exchanger in the lower part of the air flow channel. It is concluded that the new concept looks promising for use as the indoor heat exchanger in an air-to-air heat pump or as a gascooler for heat rejection in small commercial equipment, when using CO₂ as refrigerant.