Investigation of heat transfer characteristics on various kinds of fin-and-tube heat exchangers with interrupted surfaces

Abstract

This study experimentally investigates the effects of the shapes of interrupted surfaces on the performance of the fin-and-tube heat exchanger used in home air conditioners. The scaled-up model experiments are conducted to evaluate the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop, and prototype experiments are also performed to examine the validity of the scaled-up experiments. Their results are in agreement with the available experimental data. These results are confined to the sensible heat transfer characteristics. It is shown that the scaled-up model experiments are very useful for estimating the heat transfer characteristics of a heat exchanger. In this study, the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of the three kinds of newly designed fin shapes are also compared to one another, and an optimal fin shape for home air conditioners is recommended.