Feasibility of Using Extruded Aluminum Tubing for Refrigerator Heat Exchangers

Goslovich, K.S.; Bullard, C.W.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/11021 Copy

Description

Title

Feasibility of Using Extruded Aluminum Tubing for Refrigerator Heat Exchangers

Author(s)

• Goslovich, K.S.
• Bullard, C.W.

Issue Date

1995-05

Keyword(s)

heat exchangers

Abstract

"The goal of this study was to determine whether extruded aluminum tubing could be used in the manufacture of a condenser and evaporator for a domestic refrigerator that would be competitive with conventional technology. A variety of tube geometries were examined. Condenser and an evaporator models were constructed using two-phase flow correlations to account for ""refrigerant-side pressure drop. The duct size and airflow rate were held within conventional limits for comparison. Constraints on the tube spacing insured that there would beroom for cleaning the condenser coil and that the evaporator would not become blocked by frost. An analysis of base case tube geometries showed that using two parallel circuits substantially reduced the amount of aluminum. Optimal condenser and evaporator designs were found by minimizing component cost. The best condenser design used a tube with 10 sub-millimeter ports with 6 mm lateral fins to increase heat transfer. The optimal evaporator design also incorporated lateral fins, but had only one relatively large port. A model of a refrigerator system was constructed and used to determine the effect of pressure drop on COP for a 150 W evaporator. The optimal component designs were used as initial guesses for the system analysis. The results showed that a feasible design does exist that is comparable in cost to conventional heat exchangers. Further, the extruded aluminum exchangers reduce refrigerant charge and can provide a higher COP than the current technology."

Publisher

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center. College of Engineering. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Series/Report Name or Number

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center TR-76

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/11021

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

University of Illinois

Owning Collections