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Frost On Air-Cooling Evaporators

Article  in  Ashrae Journal · February 2009

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On y^r-Cooling Evaporators
By Douglas T. Reindl, Ph.D. RE., and Todd B. Jekel, Ph.D. P.E. air-cooling evaporators operate
with both coil surface temperatures below
n this article, we focus on the operation of air-cooling evaporators in industrial 32' F (f)°C) and entering air dew-point

I temperatures above tlic coil surface tem-

refrigeration applications at temperatures below freezing. These heat exchangers perature, moisture from the air being cooled
will accumulate on the fins and tubes of
are generally applied to control the environmental conditions in holding freezers, the coil in the fonn of frost. The formation
and growth of IVosl on the evaporator will
dynamic blast freezers, stationary blast cells, refrigerated docks, as well as other decrease the coil's cooling capability.
Whaf is ihe mo! cause of capacity dectvase
lower temperature conditioned spaces found in food manufacturing and distribution Jrom ßvsted coil?
a. Increased air-side pressure
facilities. We review the factors that influence the formation of frost on the evapora- drop: thereby, decreasing
airßow through the coil.
tor surfaces and discuss how frost accumulation impacts coil performance.
h. Increased resistance to heat
Air-^cooling evaporators are refrigerant- applied to the tube exterior. Individual transfer between the air and the
to-air heat exchangers widely used in tubes of the heat exchanger are arranged
About the Authors
industrial refrigeration, commercial refrig- in multiple rows of parallel circuits to
Douglas T Reindl, Ph.D., RE., is a professor
eration. and heat pump systems. ICnown achieve increased thermal performance. and director and Todd B. Jekel, Ph.D., PE., is
as "forced-circulation air coolers" ' or "air- Refrigerant evaporates inside the tubes as assistant director at the University of Wisconsin-
cooling evaporators "these heat exchang- it absorbs heat from air flowing over the Madison's Industrial Refrigeration Consortium in
ers use tubes to carry refrigerant with fiiis outside surface of the tinned tubes. Madison. Wis.

February 2009 ASHRAE Journal 27

 refrigerant due to the insulating effects of the frost, provides some basic guidance for typical fin spacing on eoiis
c. Both of the above. over a range of operating conditions.
li. None of the above. i Tahle I provides some basic guidance for typical fin spacing
If you answered "c." you are correct. A number of papers on coils over a range of operating conditions.
highlighting this phenomena have been published.-••''••* Aljuwa- It is important to work with your evaporator manufacturer
he!, et al.^"' confirmed that the single greatest factor reducing to select an appropriate coil once you understand the operating
evaporator capacity due to frost accumulation is the decrease environment for that coil.
in airflow rate due to its effect on air-side pressure drop as Coil Location. Coils located in regions with supersaturated
originally suggested by Stoecker.- moisture will experience a much higher rate of frost accumula-
tion and plugging. Figure 2 shows an example of warm, moist
Factors Influencing Coil Capacity During Frosting air from a dock infiltrating into afreezer.Because the infiltrating
li'lhil arc ihc factors ihat control how fast my evaporator's air is more buoyant, it rises to the ceiling. The rapid cooling of
capacity will decrease due to frosting? the supersaturated moist infiltrating air causes crystals of ice to
A number of factors Influence the rate of frost form in the air rather than on the coil surface. If
accumulation on a coil resulting in increased an evaporator is located immediately above the
air-side pressure drop and reduced airflow rate door opening, it will see a significant load of
through the coil. supersaturated moisture and will quickly plug the
Fin spacing. Sometimes referred to as face of the coil with frost. The accelerated rate of
"fin pitch," the density of fins applied to an frost accumulation on the entering side of the coil
evaporator will have a dramatic effect on the surface is due to impaction and interception of
susceptibility of coil frosting and the resulting the ice crystals onto the coil surface. If the moist
capacity loss due to blocking airflow. Although dock air had an opportunity to blend with the
increased fin density (decreased fin spacing) colder drier freezer air, the rate of frost-induced
may be desirable because it increases the sur- plugging on the coil would be reduced,
face area available for heat transfer, the reduced Moisture Load. In applications with sig-
spacing between fins will result in a decrease of nificant moisture loading, the rate of frost ac-
the open area available for air to fiow as frost Figure I.-All cvuporalorcoilnitti cumulation can rise dramatically, accelerating
accumulates on the coil. A coil design with thefirsttwo tube rowsfinfree. the capacity loss. The severity of the moisture
narrow fin spacing will "plug" with frost more rapidly, requir- load can be characterized in terms of the sensible heat ratio
ing more frequent defrosts. A balance between fin spacing that (SHR). The sensible heat ratio represents the ratio of the space
provides adequate coil heat transfer surface area, but that does sensible load to the space total load as given by;
not lead to a rapid buildup of frost, is required.
In low-temperature freezing systems, some coil designs have Q Q.,
SHR = sensible sensible
(1)
fin spacing that varies from the air-entering side of the coil to
the air-leaving side of the coil to more effectively manage the 'total -sensible ^latent
effects of frost accumulation. Figure I shows an evaporator The term ^„,,,,,/,/^, represents that portion of a heat load that
for a low-temperature blast freezer where the first two rows causes the air temperature to rise while Qi^„^„, is the portion
of the coil are bare tubes (no fins). Because moisture is being of the heat load attributable to a space moisture increase. As
extracted from the airstream as it moves from the entering to the moisuire or latent load in a temperature-controlled space
the leaving side of the evaporator, successive rows in this coil increases, the sensible heat ratio decreases and operating
have increased fin density to provide surface area while miti- evaporators will experience increased difficulty removing the
gating the plugging effects of the frost accumulation. Tabie ¡ moisture needed to meet the latent load. This is especially

Operating Temperature Range Moisture/Frost Load "^yP'^^l Fin Pitch Comments

(Fins per in.)
-25T (-32X) and Colder Heavy - Moderate 0-3 Consider a Variable Fin Pitch Coil
Heavy 0-3 Consider a Variable Fin Pitch Coil
25T(-32X) to +10'T(-12X)
Moderate-Light 2-3
Heavy-Moderate 3
+ 10T(-12°C)to +:
Ught 4

+ 35^ (2"C) to +50TdO^C) Heavy-Light Avoid using the high fin density coils in applications
4-6
with airborne particulates (e.g., packaging areas).

Table J: Review of typical evaporatorfinspacing over a range of space operating conditions.

28 ASHRAE J o u r n a l ashrae.org February 2009

relevant for those evaporators operating
in low-temperature environments (below
32°F[0°C]).
A number of past investigators have char-
acterized envelopes of operating conditions
that lead to moisture and frost problems in
conditioned spaees. Figure 3 shows a series
of three process lines on a seetion of a low-
temperature psyclirometrie chart. The situa- Loading Dock
tion is typical of what happens when higher
temperature and humidity air from a dock
space infiltrates to a lower temperature and Warm Inflow
humidity storage ñ^ezer space in an airflow
Freezer
pattern similar to that shown in Figure 2.
The psyehrometric processes involved
with this situation are illustrated in three Cold Outflow
separate situations shown in Figure 3. In Iced Floor
each case the infiltrating air from the dock
is at a constant dry-bulb temperature of Figure 2: Airflow patterns from a dock to a freezer.'"*
50°F ( IO°C). while the relative humidity
varies from 60% (Case I ) to 30% (Case 0.012
3). which mixes with a freezer with a Saturation Line
space temperature of 10°F (-12°C). 0,010
The lowest surface temperature in the
freezer spaee is the evaporator eoil, which
0.008
operates at -lO^F (-23°C)—a point
commonly referred to as the apparatus
dew-point temperature (ADP). 0,006 .S
Case I ; unfavorable Process Line
When the air from the dock enters into
Case 2: Borderline Favorable Process Line
the freezer, a mixing process occurs. As 0,004
Case 3: Favorable Process Une
the warmer dock air blends with the cold-
er air within the freezer, the mixed-air 0.002
condition progressively moves down the ADP

tie line that eonneets the dock condition

0,000
to the freezer condition. Case 1 illustrates 10 20 30 40 50 60
an "unfavorable process line" due to por- Dry-Bulb Temperature (°F)
tions of the process line that eonneets Figure 3: Psyehrometric chart .showing process lines that range from unfavorable to favor-
the mixed-air condition to the coil ADP able conditions for frosting J
being above the saturation eurve, which
leads to a supersaturated moisture condition where ice crystals a borderline favorable coil frosting condition. Case 3 is a lower
will form in the air. Smith^-' identified the "unfavorable" frost dock humidity condition (30%) with a similar dock-freezer air
eondition and noted how the presence of this condition adversely mixing ratio as Case 2. In this case, the proeess line stays below
affected evaporator performance, as well as causing significant the saturation curve yielding a favorable frost condition. We
icing effects on other eold surfaces within the freezer. Case 1 should note that the assumed freezer set temperature of 10°F
would be reflective of entering air condition for an evaporator (-12°C) and the temperature difference between the freezer
located in close proximity to the dock-freezer doors where and coil refrigerant temperature (approximately the ADP) of
the eoiPs entering air (a mixed-air condition) is closer to the 20°F (11°C) are both quite high. These conditions were used
dock condition due to the relatively narrow opportunity ofthe to illustrate the concepts of unfavorable and favorable frost-
infiltrating air to fully mix with the freezer air. ing conditions. Set temperatures for freezers range from -5'^F
In Case 2. the doek relative humidity is lower (approximately (-20°C) to -20°F (-29°C), while a 10°F (6°C) temperature
40%), and the coil entering air is much closer to the freezer difference is more typical.
condition, indicating that a more thorough mixing process has How can I minimize or avoid conditions that lead to unfavor-
occurred as would be the case for evaporators located further able frosting?
away from the dock-freezer doors. In this ease, the process line Obviously, the source ofthe moisture should be identified and
is approaching, but not crossing, the saturation curve leading to minimized. In cases where moisture originates from infiltrating

February 2009 ASHRAE Journal 29

air, appropriate techniques to reduce that
0.012
infiltration rale should be pursued. This
may require repairing seals, maintaining Saturation Line y
\ /
door control, reducing openings (e.g., for 0.010
conveyors), and ensuring an appropriate
pressure balance between spaces at dif- / 0.8'
0.008
fering conditions. Kurtiier information on 1 / /
these strategies can be found in several
papers.•'•**•'' 0.6'
40 F / /
0,006
Process Line
If the source of moisture is from prod- With Lower •"^Original Dock Condition
ucts that are being processed consider Dock Set 0.4
Temperature Unfavorable 0.004
alternative means that can reduce mois- Process Line 20"
ture loss. Strategies for reducing product \ ^XO>^X Revised Dock , ^ ^ ^
^<!'^;ií-'\|^;:;í''^r Temf>erature \ 0.2
moisture loss can include: packaging 0.002
prior to cooling/freezing: pre-cooling
product; and crust-freeze product using
a cryogenic fluid prior to finish-freezing -20 -10 10 20 30 40 50
0.000
60
with a mechanical freezing system (flash Dry-Bulb Temperature {°F)
freezing will create a crust on the product
surface to minimize desiccation). Tech- Figure 4: Psychrometric chart showing process lines for a lower ¡lock set temperature to
niques to reduce moisture loss have the improve favorability of the freezer coil frosting condition.

added benefit of increasing product yield. Yield savings almost ing systems, the extent of unfavorable frost conditions can be
certainly will far outweigh energy cost benefits from reduced minimized but not eliminated.
moisture loads on evaporators. For many low-temperature freez- For spaces such as holding freezers, one common approach

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30 ASHRAE Journal February 2009
for avoiding unfavorable frost conditions
is to lower the setpoint temperature of the
doek to increase the Ievei of moisture re-
moval at a higher evaporator temperature
(when compared to the freezer). Redue-
ing the docli setpoint temperature to
something in the range of 35°F (2°C),
will permit air defrosting while provid-
ing significantly more moisture removal
when compared to a 50°F (10°C) space
setpoint. In some cases., hot-gas reheat is Figure 5: Low density frosiforwing on an evaporator due to iiighcoiitemperataretlijfcrence
added at the dock evaporator to further
and presence of supersaturated air.
increase the space sensible heat ratio.
Figure 4 shows a dock maintained at a 35°F (2°C) dry-bulb capacity decrease due to airflow blockage. Unfavorable frost-
temperature with a relative humidity of 60%. A process iine ing conditions leads to the formation of ice crystals directly
from the entering eoil condition to the ADP shows it to be just in the airstream. There is a tendency for these ice crystals to
favorable as it approaches but does not cross the saturation precipitate onto cold surfaces within the space; however, they
curve. Adding reheat at the dock door can further increase the will ride along on air currents created by operating evaporator
dry-bulb temperature of infiltrating air, driving the process to fans. The frost crystals will readily adhere to the coil surface
an increasingly "favorable" frost condition process line. by physical impaction or interception; thereby, blocking airflow.
Cleland^ oiYers other strategies for avoiding unfavorable Figure 5 shows the structure of unfavorable frost adhering to
frosting conditions but rightly places a particular emphasis on the surfaces of a variably finned low-temperature evaporator
preventing the infiltration using door protection devices. freezing unpacked product and operating with a moderately
Frost Type. Somewhat related to discussions in the previous high TD (difierence in temperature between the entering air
section, the type of frost has an influence on the rate of coil and the evaporating refrigerant). In this case, the structure of

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February 2009 ASHRAE Journal 31
the frost is extremely light and fluffy with minimal bonding to
the coil surface. We postulate that, in this case, the coil plugged
where the fins started and that the light, "fluffy" frost grew after
the coil blockage. As mentioned previously, this type of frost
degrades coil performance more rapidly than a higher density
frost as shown in Figure 6.
The higher density frost forming on the coil shown in Figure
6 occurs in spaces with favorable frosting conditions. Due to
the lack of supersaturated air, as well as an operating coil TD
of 10°F (6°C), moisture from the air forms on the coil by a dif-
fusion process creating a much more dense frost structure. The iiiti
higher frost density allows the coil to accumulate significantly rigiire 6: Higher density frost forming on an evaporator.
more mass of moisture (frost) before adversely affecting coil Parameter Value
capacity due to airflow blockage.
Fin Pitch 3 fins/in. (0.85 cm)

Measuring Coil Capacity Decrease Due to Frosting Face Area 88.6 ft2 (8.23 m^)
How significant is the rate oj capacity lo.ss due to frosting? Tube Diameter 3/4 in. (19.06 mm)
As mentioned previously, the loss of coil capacity under Tube Length 18 ft (5.5 m)
frosting operation is due to reduced airflow, as well as increased Number of Fans 5
resistance to heat transfer. The more significant of these two
Fan Power at -30°F (-34°C)
factors is the capacity loss due to blockage of airflow.--'''"'"-'- Air Temperature
3,125 HP (2.33 kW)
The effects offi-ostpresenting an increased resistance to heat
Rated cfm 60,000 cfm (1,699 m3/min)
transfer are significantly less important.^'^
Number of Tube Rows 10
Aljuwahel^ monitored the performance of a single 37 ton (130
kW) evaporator located in a penthouse in a low-temperature stor- Saturated Evaporator
-3O.F<^34.4-C,
Temperature
age freezer. Additional details on the coil are given in Table 2.
Coil Temperature Difference 10T(5.6''C)
The in situ performance of the unit was determined using an
extensive configuration of air-side instrumentation arranged to Rated Coil Capacity 37 tons (130 kW)
measure entering and leaving conditions (air temperature and Fin and Tube Material Aluminum
moisture content), as well as the average velocity of air flowing Evaporator Coil Type CPR-fed Liquid Overfeed
through the coil. In addition, data was collected to determine the
volume flow rate of air being conveyed by the unit's five fans. Table 2: Geometry and operating conditions of the experimentally
Figure 7 shows the average face velocity of air across the coil monitoreil air-cooling evaporator.
during frosting operation over a 41 hour period. The average tor capacity is gross because it does not include fan heat gains.
velocity of air across the frost-free coil is approximately 560 ft/ The net effect is that an evaporator's capacity, while operating
min (2.85 m/s) but that average velocity decreases by nearly 50% under frosting conditions will decrease and the system s operat-
to 315 fl/min ( 1.6 m/s) at the end of its operating cycle. Figure S ing efficiency suffers as a result. To counter these effects, the
shows the average dry-bulb temperature of air entering and leav- accumulated frost must be removed from the evaporator surface
ing the evaporator during frosting operation. The average entering on either a continuous or intermittent basis.
air temperature (i.e., space temperature) is relatively constant at
-17.5°F (-28°C) while the leaving temperature decreased from Alternative Approaches
-24°F (-31°C) to -26°F (-33°C) as the coil accumulated fi-ost. Are there other approaches that can further reduce or elimi-
The drop in leaving air temperature is a byproduct of the decreased nate the need for defrosting evaporators?
airflow rate through the coil, which allows longer dwell time to The short answer to this question is "not really." Some alterna-
give up its heat to the refrigerant. Unfortunately, that decreased
tive approaches use a liquid desiccant media such as glycol. which
coil leaving air temperature is not sufficient enough to overcome
is sprayed directly onto the evaporator surface to preferentially
the drop in airflow rate. Consequently, the coil's reñigeration
absorb the moisture into the freezing point depressed working
capacity decreases over time asfrostaccumulates on the coil. The
fluid. As moisture from the air goes into the liquid solution, the
actual measured gross capacity of the coil is shown in Figure 9.
concentration of glycol will be reduced and reconcentration
The average clean coil capacity over four separate runs is 33
becomes necessary to avoid freeze-ups. In this case, the equiva-
tons ( 116 kW) and the capacity of the unit decreases to 27 tons
(95 kW) after 41 hoursofoperation, representing a capacity loss lent to a hot gas defrost for a typical evaporator occurs remotely
of nearly 20%. Two other observations were made regarding the from the unit as heat is added to drive off the accumulated water;
measured coil capacity. First, thefield-measuredcapacity is 8% thereby, re-concentrating the gtycol for reuse.
less than the unit s rated capacity. Second, the measured evapora- Another alternative that has been promoted to reduce latent
loads is the use of solid desiccants. The solid desiccant system
32 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org February 2009
approach can reduce latent loads in temperature 4,00
controlled spaces but the added cost of the desic-
3,50
cant system operation must be carefully evaluated
to understand whether or not the total cost of 3,00

operation will be lowered.

|_2,50

Conciusions ^ 2 00
With the exception of sprayed desiccant units, T —T"
Region of Experiment Uncertainty
evaporators operating at lower temperature conditions
will result in frost formation on the coil surface. Many 1,00
factors influence the rate and nature of frost formation
0.50
including: evaporator unit fin spacing, coil location,
latent (moisture) load, and frost type or structure. The 0,00
250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500
accumulation of frost on a coil causes its capacity to Time (min)
decrease due to blockage of airflow; as well as the
Figure 7: Average face velocity of air across the coil during frosting operation.
insulating effects of the frost layer itself As a result,
periodic removal of the accmnulated frost layer is
-24 -I I
required to maintain system capacity and efficiency.
H Run #2 «Run #4 -13
A Run #3 • R u n # 5
Average Inlet Air Temperature
References — Model Predtaion -IS
1. 2006 ASHRAE Handbook—Refrigemtion. Chapter -17
42. "Forced-Circulation Air Coolers." «it
2. Stoecker.W.F 1957."How frost formation on coils -19
affects refrigeration systems." Refrigerating Engineer- -21
ing. 65{2):44-45. Average Outlet A!r Temperature
3. Cleland, D,J. 2005. "Implications of coil frosting -23
on system designs for low-temperature applications."
25
ASHRAE Transactions, 111 (l):336-345. -32 - - :Run#2 a R u n # "»asU
4. Mago. PJ. and S.A, Sherif 2005. "Coil frosting and -33 Run #3 O R " n # 27
defrosting issues at low freezer temperatures near satura- — Modei Prediction
tion conditions." ASHRAE Transactions. 111( 1 ):3- 17, -34 -29
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500
5. Aljuwayhei. N.F.. D,T, Reindl. S,A, Klein. G,F Time (min)
Nellis, 2008. "Experimental investigation of the per-
formance of industrial evaporator coils operating under Figure 8: Average coil inlet and outlet temperatures during frosting operation.
frosting conditions," International Journal of Refrigem-
tion, 31(1 ):98-106. 40
6. Smith. G,R. 1989. "Theoretical cooling coil calcu-
lations at freezer temperatures to avoid unfavorable coil
frost." ASHRAE Transactions. 95(2): 1138- 1148.
126
H
1 ^ R u n # l •Run#3
A Run #2 «Run #4 35
M
— Model Prediction
7. Smith, G.R, 1992, "Latent heat, equipment-related •108 - »MM <
>"•• 30
load, and applied psych rometrics at freezer tempera- ' * " •

tures." ASHRAE Transactions, 98(2):649-657,

8. Reindl. D.T, andTB, Jekel. 2008. "Infiltration rate 90 Í' 25
determination tor low temperature freezing systems."
ASHRAE Transactions, i 14(2):264-272, û 72 20
9. IRC. 2005. "Air balance issues in refrigerated
facilities." Cold Front. Industrial Refrigeration Consor-
tium, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5(4): 1-8. 54
10. Barrow, H. 1985. "A note on frosting of heat
250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 I7S0 2000 2250 2500
pump evaporator surfaces." Heat Recovery Systems,
Time (min)
5(3):195-201.
ll.Sekcr, D,. H, Karatas, and N. Egrican, 2004, Figure 9: Coil capacity (load) as the unit operates from clean to frosted condition.
"Frost formation on fin-and-tube heat exchangers. Part
I—^modeiing of frost formation on tin-and-tube heat exchangers" 13. Machielsen, C,H. and H.G, Kerschbaumer, 1989, "Influence
International Journal of Refrigeration, 27: 367-374. of frost formation and defrosting on the performance of air coolers:
12. Yao, Y, Y. Jiang, S, Deng, and Z. Ma. 2004. "A study on the standards and dimensionless coefficients for the system designer,"
performance of the airside heat exchanger under frosting in an air International Journal of Refrigeration. I2(3):283-29O.
source heat pump water heater/chiller unit." International Journal of 14. 2006 ASHRAE Handbook—Refrigeration. Chapter 13, "Refrig-
Heat and Mass Transfer. eration Load."«

February 2009 ASHRAE Journal 33

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