Heat transfer and pressure drop amidst frost layer presence for the full geometry of fin-tube heat exchanger

Abstract

The present study numerically solves the flow and thermal fields in the full geometry of heat exchanger modeling with frost layer presence on the heat exchanger surface. The effects of air inlet velocity, air inlet temperature, frost layer thickness, fin pitch, fin thickness, and heat exchanger shape on the thermo-hydraulic performance of a fin-tube heat exchanger are investigated. Heat transfer rate rises with increasing air inlet velocity and temperature, and decreasing frost layer thickness and fin pitch. Pressure drop rises with increasing air inlet velocity and frost layer thickness, and decreasing fin pitch. The effect of fin thickness on heat transfer and pressure drop is negligible. Based on the present results, we derived the correlations, which express pressure drop and temperature difference between air inlet and outlet as a function of air inlet velocity and temperature, as well as frost layer thickness.