IIR document

Optimization of R290 variable geometry heat exchangers.

Number: 1263

Author(s) : O'MALLEY B., TANCABEL J., AUTE V.

Summary

Air-to-refrigerant heat exchangers (HX) are vital components in Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC&R) equipment. Recent literature has proposed utilizing shape-optimized, non-round tubes to reduce component size and refrigerant charge, thus enabling the adoption of low-GWP natural refrigerants like R290. However, most designs are restricted to fixed tube configurations, limiting the overall performance potential. In this work, multi-objective optimization is used in a staged approach to develop variable geometry multi-pass air-to-R290 HXs with minimal volume and airside pressure drop. Non-round tubes are used throughout the domain and each pass may have different tube arrangements to maximize HX performance. Compared to conventional fin-tube HXs, the optimized designs demonstrate more than 60% reductions in envelope volume, 30% reductions in face area, and up to 24% reduction in airside pressure drop. Additionally, the refrigerant charge reduction was up to 64%, thus enabling safe use of flammable and mildly-flammable refrigerants.

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Pages: 7 p.

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Details

  • Original title: Optimization of R290 variable geometry heat exchangers.
  • Record ID : 30032754
  • Languages: English
  • Source: 16th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen Conference on Natural Refrigerants (GL2024). Proceedings. University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA, August 11-14 2024
  • Publication date: 2024/08
  • DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18462/iir.gl2024.1263

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