02 Condensors Evaporators 06
02 Condensors Evaporators 06
OUTLINE
1. Heat Exchangers
1.1 Types of Heat Exchangers
1.2 Overall Heat-transfer Coefficient of Tubings
1.3 Extended Surface - Fins
1.4 Scroll Compressors
1.5 Gas Flowing over Finned Tubes
2. Condensers
2.1 Air-cooled Condensers (Tube-and-fin)
2.2 Water-cooled Condensers
2.3 Evaporative Condensers
2.4 Fouling Factor
2.5 Desuperheating
2.6 Air and non-condensables
3. Evaporators
3.1 Types of Evaporator
3.2 Frost
Tutorial
BST20532 HVAC Services 2 - Condensers and Evaporators
1. Heat Exchangers
Condensers and evaporators are heat exchangers i.e. devices in which two fluid
streams separated by a solid surface and exchange heat energy. There are two
common types of heat exchangers as shown in Figures 1 and 2, namely
i) shell-and-tube, and
ii) finned-coil
Finned Coil
refrigerant flow at To
outer surface A o at T os
For a small tube section as shown in Figure 3, the steady-state heat transfer rate is the
same at the external and internal surfaces as well as inside the solid metal, so
k
Q = h o A o (To − Tos ) = A m (Tos − Tis ) = h i A i (Tis − Ti )
x
(1)
where ho, hi - external and internal surface convective heat transfer coefficients
k - thermal conductivity of tube metal
x - tube thickness
Am - mean circumferential area of tube
Q = U o A o (To − Ti ) = U i A i (To − Ti )
(2)
1 1 1 x 1
= = + +
U o A o U i A i h o A o kA m h i A i
(3)
1.3.1 In Tube
A useful heat transfer expression for liquid flow relating Nusselt number (Nu),
Reynolds number (Re) and Prandtl number (Pr) is as follows:
Nu = C Re n Pr m
(4)
where C, m or n carry different values for different flow situations.
Since turbulent flow exists in most evaporators and condensers, equation (4) then
becomes:
⎛ ρDu ⎞ ⎛ C p µ ⎞
0.8 0.4
hD
= 0.023⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
k ⎝ µ ⎠ ⎝ k ⎠
(5)
where h, k, ρ, µ and Cp all are fluid properties.
Pressure drop due to fluid flow occurs in straight tubes, bends, heads, etc. Also
entrance and exit losses exist. In a straight tube, the pressure drop is given by the
Darcy formula,
L ρu 2
∆P = 4f
D 2
(6)
.
This often represents 50 to 80% of the total loss. Since m = ρuA ,
. 2
∆P ∝ u ∝ m2
1.3.2 In Shell
Liquid is directed by baffles to flow across the tube bundle [Figure 1(a)]. The baffles
increase the velocity of the liquid, thereby increasing its heat transfer coefficient. The
shell-side heat transfer coefficient is a function of the volume flow rate:
. 0.6
h∝V
When the heat transfer involves air, the air-side resistance is always the controlling
resistance in equation (3). In order to improve the performance by reducing the
thermal resistance 1 ho Ao , Ao is usually increased by the addition of fins.
Fins may take on many forms ranging from the simple plate of uniform cross section
(bar fin) to complex patterns attached to tubes.
To analyse its performance by solving for the temperature distribution through the fin,
consider an element of thickness dx and with a unit fin depth:
Hence for one half of the fin width “y” (note the symmetry),
⎛ dT ⎞ ⎛ dT ⎞
ky ⎜ ⎟ + dx. h f (Ta − T ) = ky ⎜ ⎟
⎝ dx ⎠ 1 ⎝ dx ⎠ 2
⎡⎛ dT ⎞ ⎛ dT ⎞ ⎤
ky ⎢⎜ ⎟ − ⎜ ⎟ ⎥ = dx. h f (Ta − T)
⎣⎝ dx ⎠ 2 ⎝ dx ⎠ 1 ⎦
⎛ dT ⎞ ⎛ dT ⎞ d ⎛ dT ⎞ d 2T
⎜ ⎟ −⎜ ⎟ = ⎜ ⎟ dx = 2 dx
⎝ dx ⎠ 2 ⎝ dx ⎠ 1 dx ⎝ dx ⎠ dx
Hence,
d 2 T h f (Ta − T)
=
dx 2 ky
(7)
T − Tb cosh M(L − x )
=
Ta − Tb cosh ML
(8)
hf
where M= (9)
ky
Because a fin does not have a uniform temperature throughout its length, a term called
"fin effectiveness" (η) is defined as the ratio of actual rate of heat transfer to the rate
as if the entire fin were at the base temperature. Then,
tanh ML
η=
ML
(10)
Figure 5 shows the shapes of (a) an annular fin and (b) a rectangular or square fin
mounted on a cylindrical tube. Rectangular plate fin is commonly used in these days.
A chart of η for rectangular-plate fin corresponding to the annular fin (with the same
surface area and thickness) is shown in Figure 6. In the figure, re is the external
radius of the fin and ri the internal radius.
i) prime area (Ap) : portion of tube in between fins, which is at the base
temperatue Tb and therefore η = 1
1 1 1 x 1
= = + +
U o A o U i A i h o ( A p + ηA e ) kA m h i A i
(11)
The heat transfer coefficient and friction loss (hf & ∆P), when air flows over finned
tubes, depend on the coil geometry. For estimation purpose,
h f = 38u f
0.5
(12)
where uf is the face velocity in m/s.
The chart in Figure 7 shows the pressure drop (in Pa per tube row) of a commercial
cooling coil when the finned surfaces are dry.
Air-pressure drop, Pa per tube row
2 Condensers
The condenser removes (from the refrigerant gas) the heat of compression and the
heat absorbed by the refrigerant in the evaporator. The refrigerant is thereby
converted back into the liquid phase at the condenser pressure and is available for re-
expansion into evaporator. Cooling medium can be air, water and combination of air
and water.
Since the condenser pressure and temperature must be maintained with a certain
range, either air dampers are installed to modulate the air passing through the
condensing coil or fan speed is reduced to decrease the volume flow rate of the
cooling air.
The hot gas from the compressor is desuperheated, condensed and sub-cooled into
liquid state in the condenser. During condensation, approximately one-sixth of the
shell is filled with liquid refrigerant which is sub-cooled to a lower temperature by the
entering cooling water. Such a liquid level also prevents gas bubbles from entering
the liquid line. The fouling factor of the tubes is 0.35m2 K/kW for fresh water and 0.6
m2K/kW for seawater.
• From the vapour refrigerant to the water film on the coil surface. Efficiency
depends on the temperature difference between the refrigerant and the water film.
• From the water film to the air by evaporation. Efficiency depends on the enthalpy
difference between the saturated air film and the moving air stream.
2.3.2 Characteristics
Due to higher rate of heat transfer by evaporation of water film, less coil surface is
required. Less space is therefore required comparing to cooling tower and air-cooled
condenser.
2.3.3 Limitations
1 1 xA o Ao A
= + + + o
U o h o kA m h ff A i h i A i
(13)
2.5 Desuperheating
(Tc − Ti ) − (Tc − To )
LMTD =
⎛ T − Ti ⎞
ln⎜ c ⎟
⎝ Tc − To ⎠
(14)
Tc
To
Ti
Air or other non-condensable gases that have entered the refrigeration system will be
eventually collected in the condenser. Such foreign gases reduce the efficiency of the
system because:
3 Evaporators
In the liquid flooded-feed type [Figure 1(b)], the refrigerants vaporizes on the outside
of tubes, which are submerged in liquid refrigerant within a closed shell. Flooded
evaporators are usually used with rotary screw or centrifugal compressors to cool
water or brine. Excess liquid at low pressure and temperature is pumped into the
evaporator; the liquid is separated out and the vapour flows on to the compressor via
the suction connection.
One -pass
Two-passes
Three-passes
3.2 Frost
Frost forms when the air-side surface temperature of an evaporator falls below 0oC.
This is detrimental to the heat-exchange performance because:
i) thick layers of frost acts as thermal insulation;
ii) the frost reduces air-flow rate and hence the convective heat transfer
coefficient.
water defrost - a stream of water is directed over the evaporator surface until
all frost is melted.
TUTORIAL
Question 1
In a finned coil, rectangular plate fins of 0.3 mm thick are mounted on 16 mm OD tubings.
Fins are made of aluminium and with a thermal conductivity of 202 W/m.K.
Solution
π π π
50x 40 − (16) 2 = D 2 − (16) 2
4 4 4
4
∴D = x50x 40 = 50.46 mm
π
hf 65
M= = = 46.3m −1
ky 202(0.15x10 −3 )
re 25.2
= = 3.15
ri 8
Question 2
R-123 is used in a flooded-type water-cooled condenser with 100 brass tubes. Cooling water
enters the tubes at Twi = 30oC and leaves at Two = 36oC. R-123 condenses at Tc = 40oC with
no superheating nor sub-cooling.
Data:
Tube dimensions: Di = 15 mm, L = 3 m, x = 0.5 mm
Design fouling factor (1/hff) = 0.000176 m2.K/W
ho = 6200 W/m2.K
hi = 4400 W/m2.K
For brass, k = 110 W/m.K
For R-123, hfg = 419.58 - 256.35 = 163.29 kJ/kg
For water, Cpw = 4.18 kJ/kg.K
Determine:
(a) LMTD,
(b) Overall heat transfer coefficient (Uo),
(c) Heat rejection rate (Q),
(d) Mass flow rates of cooling water (mw) and refrigerant (mr) respectively.
Solution
(a)
(Tc − Twi ) − (Tc − Two )
LMTD =
⎛ T − Twi ⎞
ln⎜⎜ c ⎟⎟
⎝ Tc − Two ⎠
(40 − 30) − (40 − 36)
= = 6.548 o C
⎛ 40 − 30 ⎞
ln⎜ ⎟
⎝ 40 − 36 ⎠
1 1 xA o Ao Ao
(b) By = + + + (from equation 13)
U o h o kA m h ff A i h i A i
Do 15 + 0.5x 2
Ao = Ai = 14.14 = 15.08m 2
Di 15
Ao + Ai
Am = = 14.61 m 2
2
(d)
Q
mw =
C pw ∆T
165.7
=
4.18(36 − 30)
= 6.607kg / s
Q 165.7
mr = = = 1.015 kg / s
h fg 163.29