Experimental and numerical study of an evaporatively-cooled condenser of air-conditioning systems

The performance of an air-conditioning unit with evaporately-cooled condenser coil is studied experimentally and numerically. An experimental setup is fabricated by retrofitting a commercially available air-conditioning unit and installing comprehensive measuring sensors and controllers. Experimental result shows that the COP (Coefficient of Performance) of the evaporately-cooled air-conditioning unit increases by about 28% compared to the conventional air cooled air-conditioning unit. To analyze the heat and mass transfer processes involved in the evaporately-cooled condenser, a detailed theoretical model has been developed based on the fluid flow characteristics of the falling film and the thermodynamic aspect of the evaporation process. Simulated results agree well with experimental data. The numerical model provides new insights into the intrinsic links between operating variables and heat transfer characteristics of water film in evaluating the performance of evaporatively-cooled condenser system. Two heat transfer coefficients, namely, wall to bulk and bulk to interface are introduced and computed from the simulation results under different operating conditions. Finally, the overall heat transfer coefficient for the water film is computed and presented as a function of dimensionless variables which can conveniently be employed by engineers to design and analyze high performance evaporatively-cooled heat exchangers.