Numerical Simulations of a Micro-Channel Wall-Tube Condenser for Domestic Refrigerators

• Published in: Tsinghua science and technology Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 426 - 433
• Main Author: 张会勇 李俊明 李红旗
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2010
• Subjects: condenser; Design engineering; Design parameters; Domestic; Mathematical models; micro-tube; Microchannels; numerical simulation; Optimization; refrigerator; Refrigerators; Tubes; Walls; 冷凝器; 家用冰箱; 微通道; 换热器; 数值模拟; 空调系统; 设计参数; condenser; refrigerator; micro-tube; numerical simulation
• ISSN: 1007-0214; 1878-7606; 1007-0214
• DOI: 10.1016/S1007-0214(10)70083-3

In recent years, microchannel heat exchangers have begun to be used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems. This paper introduces a microchannel condenser for domestic refrigerators with a theoretical model to evaluate its performance. The model was used to obtain the optimal design parameters for different numbers of tubes and tube lengths. The results show that the needed tube height of the down- ward section decreases with the number of tubes and the tube diameter. Compared with the original con- denser, the present optimal design parameters can reduce the total metal mass by 48.6% for the two wall two side design and by 26% for the two wall one side design. Thus, the present condenser is much better than the condensers usually used in actual domestic refrigerators.