scholarly journals Experimental Analysis of a Heat Pump Dryer with an External Desiccant Wheel Dryer

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1216
Author(s):  
Kai-Shing Yang ◽  
Khalid Hamid ◽  
Shih-Kuo Wu ◽  
Uzair Sajjad ◽  
Chi-Chuan Wang

This study examines the performance of three heat pump dryers: the original reference design, a modified drying chamber, and an external desiccant wheel design. Unlike most existing studies that normally adopt organic products as the drying materials, in this study we used moist sodium polyacrylate (Orbeez) as the drying material for consistent characterization of the heat pump performance. R-134a was adopted as the refrigerant for the heat pump system. The experiments were performed subject to different weights of Orbeez (drying material) at a constant volumetric flow rate of 100 m3/h. During experimentation, different parameters like the coefficient of performance (COPHP), drying rate, heat transfer rate by the condenser, moisture extraction rate, and specific moisture extraction rate were calculated. The average COPHP, mass transfer rate, heat transfer rate, MER, and SMER of the system were calculated as 3.9, 0.30 kg/s, 0.56 kW, 0.495 kg/h, and 1.614 kg/kWh, respectively. The maximum COP for the refrigeration system was achieved at lower test loads with the desiccant wheel. The moisture extraction rate for a lower test loading was higher than that for a higher test load due to the higher penetration of drying air at the lower test load, although the maximum test load showed the maximum relative humidity at the dryer outlet. The desiccant wheel showed good performance in terms of moisture extraction rate and COPHP, but it showed poor performance in terms of the specific moisture extraction rate due to the high power consumption (around 2.6 kW) of the desiccant dehumidifier. The moisture extraction rate (MER) for all designs increased to a maximum value, followed by consistent decline. However, the maximum MER for the desiccant design exceeded those for the other designs.

Author(s):  
Jieun Hwang ◽  
Keumnam Cho

Heat exchanger experiences frost on its surface when it operates below 0°C under heating condition of the heat pump. Since frost blocks air flow through the fin tube heat exchanger, it increases air-side pressure drop and deteriorates heat transfer rate of the heat exchanger. Prediction of the frost profiles on the heat exchanger is needed to minimize the unfavorable effect on the heat exchanger by frost. The present study predicts non-uniform frost distribution on the surface of fin-tube heat exchanger and shows its accuracy by comparing with measured profiles. Fin and tube heat exchanger for heat pump was considered for the frost prediction under practical refrigerant and air conditions. Non-uniform frost pattern was predicted by using segment by segment method of the heat exchanger. Heat transfer rate and exit temperature of air and refrigerant for each segment were calculated by applying ε-NTU method. Air volume flow rate in the front of the heat exchanger was decreased as frost goes on. It was utilized for the prediction of the frost formation. Numerically predicted results were compared with measured local data. They agreed within ±10.4% under the ISO 5151 condition.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6384
Author(s):  
Adel Eswiasi ◽  
Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya

A ground source heat pump system (GSHP) with a ground heat exchanger (GHE) is a renewable and green technology used for heating and cooling residential and commercial buildings. An innovative U-Tube pipe configuration is suggested to enhance the heat transfer rate in the vertical ground heat exchanger (VGHE). Laboratory experiments are conducted to compare the thermal efficiency of VGHEs with two different pipe configurations: (1) an innovative U-Tube pipe configuration (single U-Tube with two outer fins) and (2) a single U-Tube. The results show that the difference between the inlet and outlet temperatures for the innovative U-Tube pipe configuration was 0.7 °C after 60 h, while it was 0.4 °C for the single U-Tube after the same amount of time. The borehole thermal resistance for the innovative U-Tube pipe configuration was 0.680 m·K/W, which is 29.22% lower than that of the single U-Tube. The heat exchange rate in the innovative U-Tube pipe configuration is increased by 57.95% compared to the conventional single U-Tube. Measured ground temperatures indicate that compared to single U-Tube pipe configuration, the innovative U-Tube pipe configuration has superior heat transfer performance. Based on the experimental results presented in this paper, it was concluded that increasing the surface area significantly by introducing external fins to the U-Tube enhances the heat transfer rate, resulting in increased thermal efficiency of the VGHE.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.13) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Shugata Ahmed ◽  
Erwin Sulaeman ◽  
Ahmad Faris Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Hasibul Hasan

High energy requirement for electronic cooling is a major problem to operate high performance computers and data centres. Developing low cost thermal management systems for micro-electronic devices and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) is a cutting edge research area. A heat pump system associating micro-gap evaporator with internal micro-fins is a potential candidate for two-phase cooling of these advanced devices. Micro-fins induce pseudo-turbulence in the flow field, which escalates heat transfer rate. In this paper, the system performance of a heat pump using micro-gap evaporator has been investigated numerically and experimentally. As heat transfer rate in the micro-gap evaporator is influenced by turbulence generation, flow field in the inlet and outlet manifolds have been visualized in the numerical simulation to observe fin-induced pseudo-turbulence at the entrance and outlet of the micro-gap evaporator. The simulation has been performed using FLUENT 14.5 release. Experimental work has been carried out to validate numerical results. For experimentation purpose, a test rig has been developed, which contains a test section accommodating the micro-gap evaporator. A heater is provided at the bottom of the evaporator to supply uniform heat flux ranging 1 ~ 8 kW/m2. A pre-heater is installed at the compressor outlet to vary refrigerant temperature at the condenser inlet. The range of pre-heater temperature is 93 ~ 159°C. A variable speed compressor is used. The input frequency to the compressor is varied within the range of  20 ~ 50 Hz to run the compressor at different speeds. Experimental data show good agreement with numerical results. It is observed that in transient state, temperatures and pressures at different locations of the test apparatus fluctuate due to quasi-periodic dry out and surface rewetting nature of the flow. When pre-heater temperature is set at 159⁰C and compressor frequency is increased from 20 Hz to 30 Hz, evaporator wall heat flux escalates 118.2% and heat transfer rate of the condenser increases 65.2%. However, heat transfer rate declines with the further increment of compressor frequency. Coefficient of performance (COP) of the heat pump also increases with the frequency increment from 20 Hz to 30 Hz and declines after surpassing 40 Hz frequency. 


Author(s):  
Shinhyuk Yoon ◽  
Keumnam Cho

The present study investigated the performance of the evaporator for the residential heat pump under frosting condition. The size of all evaporators was 400 × 250 × 12.7 mm (W × H × D). Key experimental parameters were fin type (plate and slit fin), fin pitch (1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 mm), the face velocity of air (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0m/s), and the number of row (1 and 2) of the heat exchanger. The ethylene glycol-water mixture was used as a refrigerant. The test was done in a phychrometric calorimeter chamber. The air side pressure drop and heat transfer rate were measured as frost grew. The pressure drop of the evaporator under frosting with the slit fin was higher than that with the plate fin. It increased as the number of rows increased, the fin pitch decreased, and the air velocity decreased for the slit fin. The heat transfer rate of the evaporator under frosting with the slit fin was higher than that with the plate fin. It increased as the air velocity increased even though it was not much affected by the other parameters for the slit fin. The EF decreased as frost grew to be lower than one. The HGR decreased to be lower than one as frost grew. It decreased as the number of row increased.


Author(s):  
Manimegalai Kavarthalai ◽  
Vimala Ponnuswamy

A theoretical study of a squeezing ferro-nanofluid flow including thermal effects is carried out with application to bearings and articular cartilages. A representational geometry of the thin layer of a ferro-nanofluid squeezed between a flat rigid disk and a thin porous bed is considered. The flow behaviours and heat transfer in the fluid and porous regions are investigated. The mathematical problem is formulated based on the Neuringer–Rosensweig model for ferro-nanofluids in the fluid region including an external magnetic field, Darcy law for the porous region and Beavers–Joseph slip condition at the fluid–porous interface. The expressions for velocity, fluid film thickness, contact time, fluid flux, streamlines, pathlines, mean temperature and heat transfer rate in the fluid and porous regions are obtained by using a perturbation method. An asymptotic solution for the fluid layer thickness is also presented. The problem is also solved by a numerical method and the results by asymptotic analysis, perturbation and numerical methods are obtained assuming a constant force squeezing state and are compared. It is shown that the results obtained by all the methods agree well with each other. The effects of various parameters such as Darcy number, Beavers–Joseph constant and magnetization parameter on the flow behaviours, contact time, mean temperature and heat transfer rate are investigated. The novel results showing the impact of using ferro-nanofluids in the two applications under consideration are presented. The results under special cases are further compared with the existing results in the literature and are found to agree well.


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