Thermal and hydraulic analysis of a brazed aluminum evaporator

Abstract

This paper presents an analytical/computer model to predict the performance of a brazed aluminum evaporator operating under dehumidifying conditions. The evaporator uses small hydraulic diameter, flat multi-channel tubes and louver fins. The in-tube refrigerant flow was divided into three regions including the two-phase, liquid deficient and superheat regions. For each region, correlations were selected from the open literature to calculate the local heat transfer and pressure drop. The effects of refrigerant pressure drop along tube and pressure losses at the tube entrance and exit were accounted for in the heat transfer calculations. The air-side fins were assumed to operate at the fully wet condition and the sensible heat transfer coefficient of the wet fins was assumed to be equal to that of the dry fins. The overall heat transfer coefficient was calculated using the enthalpy driving potential method. The total heat transfer rate and refrigerant pressure drop depend on the ratio of the number of tubes in the first and second passes. Parametric studies were done to illustrate selection of the preferred number of tubes per pass. The average refrigerant side heat transfer coefficient is sensitive to the dry-out vapor quality. However, the total heat transfer rate is relatively insensitive to the dry-out vapor quality. As the air inlet humidity increases, the latent and total heat transfer rates increase, but the sensible heat transfer rate decreases. The program was used to design an R-404A evaporator, for which a prototype was built and tested. The program over-predicted the evaporator capacity by 8%. The over-prediction is believed due to flow mal-distribution in the branch tubes.