Experimental study of warm-air defrosting of heat-pump evaporators

The defrosting of a heat-pump evaporator with warm air has been investigated experimentally under controlled conditions in an air-conditioned wind tunnel. The work was initiated to explore the possibility of defrosting an evaporator under conditions where a heat pump continues to perform heating duty. A four-row straight-fin heat exchanger was used, supported from below by a load transducer to measure its weight variation during both frost accumulation and removal. The rate of melting was determined as a function of air temperature, relative humidity and velocity. The removal from the evaporator surfaces of water produced by defrosting was found to be dependent on air velocity. Proposals are advanced for further experimental studies.