International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 37 (2010) 681686

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International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / i c h m t

Theoretical and experimental examination of air conditioner heat exchangers

Zafer Gemici, Nilufer Egrican, Aliihsan Koca
Dizayn Group Technology Research and Development Center, 34522 Istanbul, Turkey

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Heat and mass transfer characteristics of nned-tube heat exchangers under dehumidifying and dry conditions are examined both theoretically and experimentally in the present study. Six types of heat exchangers were tested on an experimental facility. It was determined that there is less than 1 C of outlet air temperature difference between computer program results and literature for water and R22 as a refrigerant. The outlet air specic humidity difference between them is less than 6.44% for water and 9% for R22. According to the experimental results, louvers on n cause an increase of airside heat transfer coefcient of about 50% or 100%. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Available online 18 April 2010 Keywords: Heat exchanger Heat transfer Finned tube

1. Introduction In refrigeration and HVAC (Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning) system industry, thermal simulation programs have a great importance for the design of product in optimum conditions and to try different alternatives easily. These programs minimize the number of test and trial iterations in the design steps of any equipment. In this way, the time and cost can be reduced. With these objectives, the aim of this paper is to investigate heat transfer theory of a heat exchanger and to develop a general computer program simulating an air conditioner and/or heat pump. In this study, the evaporators used in HVAC applications are examined both theoretically and experimentally to develop a mathematical model and a computer program. When a stream of humid air is in contact with a cold surface, whose temperature is below the dew point temperature of the air, dehumidication occurs on the surface. This moisture affects the performance of the evaporator. The effect of this phenomenon should be taken into account. The mathematical model uses an enthalpy difference method to take latent heat transfer into account. The heat exchanger is analyzed as a single control volume (lumped model) with a number of inlets and outlets. In this model, air and refrigerant properties are determined at the mean temperature of the inlets and the outlets and calculated from ref. [1]. An experimental facility consisting of a closed loop wind tunnel and an air conditioner unit was built for the purpose of measuring the dry and wet surface heat transfer and pressure drop coefcients of the heat exchangers with various geometrical shapes (Fig. 1).

A computer program module was developed to simulate an evaporator and a condenser. Then, this model and other equipment's module of refrigeration cycle are connected to each other to make a simulation program. This simulation program is capable of analyzing a heat-pump system and an air conditioner system. 2. Experimental investigation 2.1. Experimental apparatus Test system is designed for both heating and cooling purposes and it consists of three basic sections; the water conditioning unit, Fig. 2, and the closed loop wind tunnel Fig. 3. Its dimension ranges are given in Table 1. This setup is based on the ASHRAE 41.2 (1987) standard [2]. 2.1.1. Water conditioning unit The water preparation system is designed to test a large range of heat exchangers. System range is to answer the needs for (060 C) 0.1 C in temperature, 02300 kg/h in mass ow rate. Heating and cooling is achieved by an electrical heater and air-cooled chiller with PID (proportional integral differential) control. There are three electric heaters, two in the rst tank and the one in the second tank. The system includes two circulation pumps one of which gives 3000 kg/h mass ow rate at 7 mWG (meter water gauge) load and the other provides a 1500 kg/h water mass ow rate to test the heat exchanger for a 40 mWG load. A Coriolis type ow meter is used to measure the mass ow rate of the water circulating through the heat exchanger. RTDs were used to measure the inlet and the outlet water temperatures of the heat exchanger. 2.1.2. Closed loop wind tunnel The tunnel is built in accordance with AMCA Standards. It is insulated against heat gain with 10 cm thick foam boards. Test section is designed in modular form so that one can use different adapters to test evaporators

Communicated by W.J. Minkowycz. Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 21288657 41; fax: +90 212 8865193. E-mail address: ihsankoca@dizayngrup.com (A. Koca). 0735-1933/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2010.03.004

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Nomenclature A bwm br c d F G h H j k L Le m Nu Pr Q Re T, t U x Xtt y Surface area, m2 Slope of air saturation curve at the mean water lm temperature of the external surface Slope of air saturation curved at the mean coolant temperature Specic heat, kg 1 K 1 Diameter, m Correction factor Mass ux, kg m 2 s 1 Convection heat transfer coefcient, W m 2 K 1 Enthalpy, kJ kg 1 K 1 Colburn factor Conductivity, W m 1 K 1 Water vaporization rate, kJ kg 1 Lewis number Mass ow rate, kg s 1 Nusselt number Prandtl number Heat transfer rate Reynolds number Temperature of air and refrigerant respectively, C Overall heat transfer coefcient, W m 2 K 1 Quality Lochart Martinelli parameter Water lm thickness, m

were placed immediately before and after the heat exchanger respectively to measure temperatures of the air stream. 2.2. Data reduction In the literature, there are many methods of calculating the total heat transfer from moist air stream to a cooled heat exchanger surface[4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]. In the present study, Threlkeld's (1970) method [10], which uses enthalpy difference between the moist air and the condensing surface as the driving force of heat transfer, is used. The calculation procedure is described below. Firstly, air temperature at the condensation point on the evaporator airside surface must be determined from the heat balances, air to refrigerant and pipe to refrigerant. Q = Udry A0 T h X T s   Q = hi Api T pi X T s Combining Eqs. (1) and (2), we obtain Tpi Ts = Udry A0 Th Ts hi Api 3 1 2

Noting that Tpi Tkd We may write Tkd Th = ! Udry A0 1 Th Ts hi Api 4

Subscripts 0 Total ai air inlet con Condensation point d Dew point hc Air outlet hg Air inlet i Inlet l Liquid o Outlet pi Tube side r Refrigerant sat Saturation sc Refrigerant outlet sg Refrigerant inlet v Vapor w Water

Fin efciency may be represented by dry = Tkm Th Tkd Th 5

where Tkm is mean temperature of the dry surface. Combining Eqs. (4) and (5) we obtain Tkm Th = ! Udry A0 1 Th Ts dry : hi Api 6

Since the Tkm is equal the Td1 condensation occurs. Now we can determine the value of Tcon as   U A Td1 dry 1 hdry 0 tsg i Api   = U A 1dry 1 hdry 0 A
i pi

Tcon

Greek letters Density, kg m 3 Difference between inlet and outlet Dynamic viscosity, kg m 1 s 1 Efciency Finning factor

with different dimensions. Mixers (honeycomb type) are used to provide a homogenous distribution of turbulated air. Four nozzles of diameters 15.24 cm, 7.62 cm, 4.064 cm and 1.747 cm measure the air mass ow rate in the system. To distribute a homogeneous airow and to decrease pressure drop in the corner bends of wind tunnel, ow straighteners are used and the cross section is divided equally into parallel channels [3]. A blower fan is used to supply the necessary air mass ow rate in the system. The pressure at the inlet of the heat exchanger is maintained at atmospheric conditions with the aid of a booster. CuCo-T thermocouples

where Td1 is dew point temperature of air. In which Udry is the overall heat transfer coefcient, hi is the inside heat transfer coefcient and dry is the n efciency whose determination is detailed in the following lines. Overall heat transfer coefcient Udry of the coil under dry conditions is determined by using only resistance of airside and refrigerant side. In this equation, contact conductance and tube conductivity are neglected. The inside heat transfer coefcient is determined as follows: If there is one phase ow inside of the tube (DittussBoelter correlation [11]) hi = 0:023Rew Prw
0:8 0:4

kw di

If there is two-phase ow and evaporation inside of the tube (ShrockGrossman correlation [12])) hi = 2:5Xtt
0:75

hl

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683

Fig. 1. Plate-n-on-tube heat exchanger.

hl = 0:023

    kl Gr 1x 0:8 l cpl 0:4 l di kl

10

For the airside heat transfer coefcient, the Kayansayan correlation [13] was used j = 0:15Redo max
0:28 0:362

Gr =

4mr d2 i

11

15

If there is two-phase ow and condensation inside of the tube (Cavallini and Zecchin correlation [11]) Nu = 0:05Reeq Prl Reeq = Rel + Rev
0:8 0:33

Fin efciency is determined from Wakeland's denition [12] as follows: dry = tanhmd ro : md ro 16

12  0:5 l v 13

l v

The parameter md in this equation is given by, s 2:hd md = kk :tk

G d 1x Gdx ; Rev = r i Rel = r i l l

14

17

where hout is reference enthalpy, hsat is saturated liquid enthalpy based on outlet temperature, hlv is vaporization enthalpy based on outlet enthalpy.

Fig. 2. Water conditioning unit.

Fig. 3. The sections of closed loop wind tunnel.

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Table 1 Geometrical parameters of tested heat exchangers. (mm) Number of tubes per row Number of rows Transverse pitch (ST) Longitudinal pitch (SL) Tube length Fin spacing (fp + tf) Number of ns Outer tube diameter (dto) Collar thickness (tc) Inner tube diameter (Di) Fin thickness (tf) Finning factor Fin type A 10 1 25.4 22 390 1.6 237 9.525 0.115 8.805 0.115 20.8 Louvered B 10 1 25.4 22 390 1.55 260 9.525 0.115 8.805 0.115 22.88 Smooth C 10 1 25.4 22 390 1.5 254 9.525 0.115 8.805 0.115 22.34 Louvered D 10 1 25.4 22 390 2.1 192 9.525 0.115 8.805 0.115 16.82 Louvered E 10 1 25.4 19.4 390 1.6 241 9.525 0.115 8.805 0.115 18.4 Louvered F 10 1 25.4 22 390 1.9 208 9.525 0.115 8.805 0.115 18.22 Louvered

and ro, ro = 0:535St  = s Sd 0:3 St   2r 1 + 0:35 ln o : do 18

The air water lm heat transfer coefcient how are calculated as follows: how = 1
cpawm bwm howet

+ kw w

25

2ro 1 do

19

After calculation of the temperature of the condensation point, we can decide whether surface is partially or fully wet under the humid environment. Control criteria are written as follows: Tcon bTai ; partially wet surface Tcon N Tai ; fully wet surface: If the surface is partially wet, we should determine dry and wet areas. Adry = Q dry FUdry Tlmdry 20

In which, yw is the water lm thickness, assumed to be 0.0002 m as being in open literature [15]. The convective heat transfer coefcient of the water lm surface was obtained from Myers' [15] equation as follows: howet = 1:067hodry v
0:101

26

where v is the velocity of air. Determination of wet n efciency is very similar with the dry one. The difference between them is mw as detailed in Eq. (28). wet = tanhmw ro w mw ro w 27

s 2how mw = kfin tf

28

In which Q dry is the heat rejected from air on the dry portion. F is the counter-current cross ow correction factor described in Ref. [14]. Awet = Ao Adry 21

After determination of the overall heat transfer of the wet surface, we could write the heat equations as follows:   * Qwet = mr cps Hssc Hssg In which, cpsort * Hssg Hssc * cps = ; br = * tsg tsc br Qwet = Hi Ho ma Qwet = FUow Awet Hlm 30 31 32 29

Wetted surface; Due to the sensible and latent heat exchanges, the enthalpy difference method given by Threlkeld (1970) was used [10], [15], [16], [17]. The total heat transfer coefcient for the wetted surface Uow is calculated as follows: Uow = 1
br Awet Api hi

b 1wet wm how
Ato Afin

 + bwm
how

22

+ wet

bwm and br are the slope of saturated enthalpy curve. If the average water lm temperature and the average tube temperature are known, bwm and br are dened as follows: bwm = Hswm Hsor H = T Twm tsor 23

br =

Hsp Hsor H = T Tp Tsor

24

where Hi is entering and Ho is leaving air enthalpy. From above equations, outlet refrigerant temperature tsc (tscon for partially wet surface), transferred heat and outlet air enthalpy are determined for the assumed Twm and Tp. However, these estimated values must be veried using below equations. The corresponding saturated enthalpy Hspm of the average tube temperature can be determined from the following equations: Heat transfer from refrigerant to inner surface of the evaporator Q = Hspm Hsor : Ri 33

But, there is no explicit way to evaluate bwm and br and it must be determined by trial and error procedures.

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Fig. 4. Comparison of the calculated outlet air temperature to Ref. [16] test results.

Fig. 6. Comparison of the outlet specic humidity of the air in between program and Ref. [16] test results.

Heat transfer from refrigerant to air Q = FHlm : Rt 34 Heat transfer between n surface and moist air Q = By Eqs. (33) and (34) we arrive at the following equation Hspm = FHlm Ri + Hsor Rt 35 h0w A0 HHsfm bwm 40

Hsfm enthalpy of saturated air at the n surface average temperature. Since wet is the n efciency Q = how A0 wet HHsdm bwm 41

Ri =

br Awet bwm 1wet b   + wm : ; Rt = Ato Api hi how how A + wet

fin

36

The corresponding saturated enthalpy Hswm of the average water lm temperature can be determined from the following equations:We may write heat transfer from moist air as the following equation   Q = hd Ao H Hspm where hd is mass transfer coefcient. Since the Lewis number is Le = howet hd cpm 38 37

Hsdm enthalpy of saturated air at the n depth surface temperaturedepth surface temperatureBy Eqs. (39) and (41)   h b wet HHspm = owet wm HHswm : cpm how 42

If the initial values of Twm and Tp do not agree with the calculated results of the control equations, iterations will be performed until the values matches. 2.2.1. Determination of air properties through the heat exchanger The relationship between air enthalpy and the humidity ratio can be described by the process equation as below [16]: dH HHswm = Le + Hb L:Le: dw wwwm 43

Letting Le 1 Eq. (37) results in Q = howet A HHswm : cpm 0 39

Fig. 5. Comparison of the calculated outlet air temperature to Ref. [17] test results.

Fig. 7. Comparison of the outlet specic humidity of the air in between program and Ref. [17] test results.

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In which w is the air humidity ratio, Hb is the enthalpy of the water vapor and L is the water vaporization heat. The air humidity ratio can be calculated using nite enthalpy steps as follows: Hg Ha dH = dw wg wa 44

3. Results and discussion The results of the computer program were compared with the literature data, reference [16] and [17]. From the runs, it was determined that there is less than 1 C of outlet air temperature difference between the computer program results and the literature for water (Fig. 4) and R22 (Fig. 5) as a refrigerant. Outlet air's specic humidity difference between them is less than 6.4% for water (Fig. 6) and 9.3% for R22 (Fig. 7). In the experimental studies, 6 types of heat exchangers were tested under dry conditions. In Fig. 8, six j-Colburn factor series are presented on a loglog graph. This gure shows the effect of nning factor on the sensible j-factors. As can be seen, the Colburn j-factors decrease with an increase of the nning factor. The airside heat transfer coefcient of the louvered n is much more then the smooth one. This situation could be seen from the curves of the samples B and C in the Fig. 8. In addition, we can see that if the mass ow rate of the air stream decreases, the enhancement effect of the louvers on the heat transfer coefcient will decrease because of the turbulence effect on the boundary layer of the air, which becomes thicker causing a lower heat transfer coefcient. After a lot of regression analysis we obtained the following equation as follows: j
0:3806

Fig. 9. Correlation curve and experimental results.

The airside heat transfer coefcient of the louvered n is much higher than the smooth one. The longer n spacing means higher overall heat transfer coefcient. As the longitudinal tube space increases, the airside heat transfer coefcient decreases. References
[1] ASHRAE, PsychometricsTheory and Practice, USA, 1996. [2] ASHRAE, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 41.2-1987, Standard methods for laboratory air ow measurement. Atlanta, USA, 1987. [3] W.P. Jones, Air Conditioning Engineering, Edward Arnold ltd, 1985, pp. 445449. [4] Mirth, D.R., 1993. Experimental Studies and Mathematical Modelling of ChilledWater Cooling Coils, PhD thesis, Purdue University, West Lafayette, 1993. [5] F.C. McQuiston, Correlation of heat, mass and momentum transport coefcients for plate ntube heat transfer surfaces with staggered tubes, ASHRAE Trans. 84 (1) (1978) 294309. [6] Worachest Pirompugd, A review on reduction method for heat and mass transfer characteristics of n-and-tube heat exchangers under dehumidifying condition, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Burapha Universitiy, Chonburi, Thailand, 2008. [7] Worachest Pirompugd, Chi-Chuan Wang, Finite circular n method for heat and mass transfer characteristics for plain n-and-tube heat exchangers under fully and partially wet surface condition, Department of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 20131, Burapha University, Chonburi, 2006. [8] C. Bougriou, R. Bessaih, Experimental and computational performance of heat exchangers functioning in wet regime by using the lm method, Department of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 05000, University of Batna, Boukhlou, 2005, (Batna, Algeria). [9] Y. Xia, A.M. Jacobi, Air-side data interpretation and performance analysis for heat exchanger with simultaneous heat and mass transfer: wet and frosted surface, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 48 (2005) 50895102. [10] J.L. Threlkeld, Thermal Environmental Engineering, Second EditionPrentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1970. [11] P. Incropera, P. De Witt, Introduction to Heat Transfer, Second Edition, John Wiley&Sons, Inc, New York, 1990, (Chapter 8). [12] J.F. Wakeland, Evaporator simulation, MS Thesis, Purdue University, 1998. [13] N. Kayansayan, Heat transfer characterization of plate ntube heat exchanger, Int. J. of Refrigeration 117 (1) (1994). [14] VDI Heat Atlas, Association of German Engineers, VDI, Dsseldorf, 1993. [15] R.J. Myers, The effect of dehumidication on the air side heat transfer coefcient for a nnedtube coil, MS Thesis, University of Minnesota, 1967. [16] Halc, F., Levha Kanatl Boru Demetlerinde Is, Ktle ve Momentum Geii, Ph.D Thesis, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, 1990. [17] E.R. Mata, Cooling and Dehumidifying Moist Air by Extended Surface Coils, MS Thesis, University of Minnesota, 1965.

= 1:6825Redh

0:5179

; 16bb23and80bRedh b500:

45

From Fig. 9, we can see the accuracy of the equation. Maximum and minimum errors are 15% and 8.5% respectively. To improve the accuracy of this equation, more experiments should be done. 4. Conclusion From experimental and theoretical investigations, results obtained can be explained as follows: Colburn j-factors, for the airside heat transfer coefcient, decrease with an increase of the nning factor.

Fig. 8. Experimental results.