REFRIGERATION CONDENSER

USINGMICROCHANNEL HEAT
EXCHANGER
 WHAT IS MICROCHANNEL HEAT EXCHANGER?

 It is a compact heat exchanger with a hydraulic

diameter on the order of 1 mm or less. Flow is
typically laminar and heat transfer coefficients are
proportional to velocity.
 Investigation of microscale thermal devices is
motivated by the single phase internal flow
correlation for convective heat transfer:Where h is the
heat transfer coefficient, Nuc is the Nusselt number, k
is the thermal conductivity of the fluid and d is the
hydraulic diameter of the channel
 WHAT IS MICROCHANNEL HEAT EXCHANGER?

 In internal laminar flows, the Nusselt number becomes

a constant. As Reynolds number is proportional to
hydraulic diameter, fluid flow in channels of small
hydraulic diameter will predominantly be laminar in
character. This correlation therefore indicates that the
heat transfer coefficient increases as channel diameter
decreases. Should the hydraulic diameter in forced
convection be on the order of tens or hundreds of
micrometres, an extremely high heat transfer
coefficient should result.
 The major problem with microchannel heat exchanger
is that the frictional pressure losses are higher due to
reduction in diameter of channel or passage of flow.
 WHAT IS MICROCHANNEL HEAT EXCHANGER?

 Micro heat exchangers have been demonstrated with high convective heat transfer
coefficients ranging form 10,000 to 35,000 watts/m2-°C, or about one order of
magnitude higher than typically seen in conventional heat exchangers
WHAT IS MICROCHANNEL HEAT EXCHANGER?
Why microchannel heat exchanger is
used in automotive condensers?
 Compact construction
 High heat transfer coefficient
 Their aluminum construction also improves heat exchanger
corrosion resistance.
 The development of MCHX leak repair techniques using
epoxy rather than brazing suggests that MCHXs could be
easier to repair than their conventional counterparts.
 In addition, lower airside pressure drop may decrease the
required fan or blower size and, hence, component cost.
 The significantly lower internal volume of an MCHX reduces
the required refrigerant charge.
Why microchannel heat exchanger is
used in automotive condensers?
 Improved heat transfer and reductions in both
condenser and evaporator fan power all
contributed to lower energy consumption. On a
national basis, a 1.2 gain in EER translates into
about a 10% reduction in the energy consumed
by air-cooled air conditioning equipment. This
result appears to be conservative, i.e., MCHXs
would likely yield greater savings relative to a
9 or 10 EER baseline unit.
Challenges in using microchannel heat exchanger in domestic
refrigerator

 Manufacturing challenges: implementation of aluminum-

copper joints in MCHXs requires different design and
manufacturing practice than conventional heat exchangers.
The currently recommended connection approach,
compression ring fittings that provide a mechanical seal,
works but is not as well-known as copper brazing. Brazing
techniques to join copper to aluminum are being developed;
these techniques also are not well-known yet.
 MCHXs include separate subcooling circuits in condensers,
counterflow for refrigerants with glide, and interlacing of
circuits (i.e., distributing circuits associated with multiple
compressors throughout the heat exchanger to enhance part-
load performance).
Challenges in using microchannel heat exchanger in
domestic refrigerator
differences in modeling fluid flow in small diameter channels may
arise as a
result of:
(a) a change in the fundamental process, such as a deviation from
the continuum assumption for gas flow, or an increased
influence of some additional forces, such as electro kinetic
forces, etc.;
(b) uncertainty regarding the applicability of empirical factors
derived from experiments conducted at larger scales, such as
entrance and exit loss coefficients for fluid flow in pipes, etc., or
(c) uncertainty in measurements at micro scale, including
geometrical dimensions and operating parameters.
 Electrokinetic phenomena
 Electrokinetic phenomena are a family of several different
effects that occur in heterogeneous fluids or in porous bodies
filled with fluid. The term heterogeneous here means a fluid
containing particles. Particles can be solid, liquid or gas bubbles
with sizes on the scale of a micrometer or nanometer.
 There is a common source of all these effects — the so-called
interfacial 'double layer' of charges. Influence of an external
force on the diffuse layer generates tangential motion of a fluid
with respect to an adjacent charged surface. This force might be
electric, pressure gradient, concentration gradient, gravity. In
addition, the moving phase might be either continuous fluid or
dispersed phase.