Conference Year
2021
Keywords
microchannel condenser, liquid extraction, heat exchanger, air conditioning system
Abstract
This paper experimentally confirmed the benefits of liquid extraction in microchannel condensers. Experiments are conducted on a mobile air conditioning (MAC) system. R134a is used as the working fluid. An extraction tube with valve is added to one condenser so that it can work in two modes: the conventional mode and the extraction mode. Two types of experiments have been conducted: the heat exchanger-level test and the system-level test. In the heat exchanger-level tests, for the same inlet and outlet enthalpy on the refrigerant side, the extraction mode generates more condensate than the conventional mode. The extraction mode also lowers the refrigerant outlet enthalpy compared to the conventional baseline at the same refrigerant flow rate. The effects of air-side conditions have also been explored. In the system-level test, the air conditioning system with the extraction-mode condenser achieves a higher COP than the baseline under the same superheat and refrigerating cooling capacity.