A Study on the Simulation and Experiment of Evaporative Condensers in an R744 Air Conditioning System

The heat transfer characteristics of evaporative condensers in an R744 air conditioning system were evaluated using the numerical and the experimental methods. Two configurations of condensers were studied: Case 1 with five layers of tubes and Case 2 with eight layers of tubes. In order to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics, the temperature field, the phase change, the pressure distribution, and thermodynamic parameters were considered. For Case 2, it indicated the capability of R744 condensation from the superheated status to the liquified status by analyzing the outlet temperature of the condenser changed from 28.7 °C to 30.3 °C with a change in condensation pressure from 72.6 bar to 68.5 bar. In this study, R744 mass flow rate increases from 14.34 kg/h to 46.08 kg/h, and the pressure drop also increases from 0.23 bar to 0.47 bar for the simulation and 0.4 bar to 0.5 bar for the experiment, respectively. The results indicate that the five-layer configuration causes a higher pressure drop and lower COP than those obtained from the eight-layer one (splitting into two sets for smaller pressure drop). Furthermore, the evaporative condensers using mini tubes that are flooded in the cooling water tank are suitable for the subcritical R744 air conditioning system. In addition, the results obtained from the experimental data are in good agreement with those obtained from the numerical results, with a deviation of less than 5%.