Chao Yuan , Hequn Liu , Jinqing Peng , Zhongbing Liu , Houpei Li
{"title":"A method to calculate the two-phase distribution in a microchannel heat exchanger","authors":"Chao Yuan , Hequn Liu , Jinqing Peng , Zhongbing Liu , Houpei Li","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.027","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.027","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Maldistribution seriously impacts the heat transfer performance of the microchannel heat exchanger (MCHX). Fully understanding the two-phase distribution in the heat exchanger is important for advancing academic research and engineering applications. This study introduces a novel method for quantifying two-phase distribution in a microchannel heat exchanger. An experimental setup was developed to measure the local vapor mass fraction in the heat exchanger header. Capacitance signals were measured under inlet vapor mass fractions from 0 to 1, and inlet flow rates of 10, 15, and 25 g s<sup>−1</sup> corresponding to a mass flux of 17.47, 26.2, and 43.66 kg m<sup>−2</sup>s<sup>−1</sup>, respectively. The local vapor mass fraction in the header was estimated using the capacitance measurements. The mass flow rate in the header, the microchannel tube, and the vapor mass fraction in the tube were calculated using the proposed model. The calculation model was validated against literature data, and the results were analyzed. The analysis reveals the characteristics of vapor mass fraction and mass flow rate distribution in the MCHX and further elaborates on the effects of phase separation, entrainment ratio, and pressure drop balance on the distribution. The proposed method can evaluate distribution in the header and tubes of microchannel heat exchangers, and it is also applicable to other types of two-phase flow devices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142445885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chenbing Yang , Liping Pang , Yuandong Guo, Desheng Ma
{"title":"Numerical investigation of ammonia boiling heat transfer in rectangular microchannel under high pressure","authors":"Chenbing Yang , Liping Pang , Yuandong Guo, Desheng Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ammonia boilers are commonly used as expendable radiators during the return phase of spacecraft. The aim of this study is to investigate the bubble behavior and heat transfer characteristics within a vertical rectangular microchannel of a plate-fin ammonia boiler under gravity at an absolute pressure of 354–615 kPa. In order to achieve this, a single rectangular microchannel unit was intercepted from the ammonia boiler structure to construct a simulation model, and the high-pressure boiling process of ammonia in the rectangular microchannel was numerically investigated using the VOF model. Good agreement was obtained by comparing the numerical results with the experimental data with the error within 8 %. The results show that the wake flow at the lower end of the primary bubbles has an enhanced effect on the heat transfer, which is about 50–60 %. The maximum horizontal dimension of primary bubbles increases with increasing superheat, and significant bubble coalescence occurs when 45 % of the rectangular microchannel spacing is exceeded. In addition, the effect of different saturation temperatures on the heat transfer performance on the hot high temperature wall was investigated. Significant heat transfer deterioration was found to occur at saturation temperatures below 4 °C (superheat above 15 °C). The reason found in this study was that bubble coalescence significantly increases the percentage of gas-phase contact area on the high-temperature wall (from 25 % to 54 %) and weakens the wake enhancement effect.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142428365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kang Li , Mingfei Tan , Yuan Man , Hua Zhang , Binlin Dou , Ni Liu , Tianjiao Zhang , Qize He , Lin Su , Soheil Mohtaram
{"title":"Investigating dehumidification and heating performance in a dual evaporator heat pump system for electric vehicles","authors":"Kang Li , Mingfei Tan , Yuan Man , Hua Zhang , Binlin Dou , Ni Liu , Tianjiao Zhang , Qize He , Lin Su , Soheil Mohtaram","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.024","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.024","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In cold, moisture-rich winter environments, window fogging represents a substantial safety hazard for drivers. Electric vehicles often incorporate heat pump systems to address challenges such as dehumidification and heating specific to cold weather. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the dehumidification and heating efficiency of these systems through focused research. This study presents a dual-evaporator heat pump system designed specifically for electric vehicles, equipped with two distinct modes for dehumidification and heating. The research examines how factors such as inlet air volume and the degree of opening of the electronic expansion valve affect the system's dehumidification and heating performance. Experimental analyses were conducted to explore the system's response under various conditions of inlet air humidity and compressor speed in both modes. Results suggest that increasing inlet air volume improves dehumidification effectiveness but may reduce heating performance. Likewise, a wider opening of the electronic expansion valve enhances heating but could decrease dehumidification efficiency. Importantly, the study indicates that when the relative humidity of the inlet air exceeds 70 %, a single evaporator mode is more effective for dehumidification. However, when the relative humidity is below 70 %, the dual evaporator mode is more advantageous, showing better heating performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142428369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experimental performance comparison of various expansion devices for small-capacity subcritical R744 vapour-compression refrigeration units","authors":"Paride Gullo , Martin Ryhl Kærn","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The target of this study is to experimentally compare the performance of three different expansion devices for small-capacity subcritical R744 vapour-compression refrigeration units. The first considered expansion device was the conventional high-pressure expansion valve, which was selected as the baseline. The second assessed expansion device was a two-phase ejector for expansion work recovery whose refrigerant flow was modulated via the pulse-width modulation (PWM) strategy. Finally, the PWM approach was employed for controlling the refrigerant flow of the ejector motive nozzle while the refrigerant was not permitted to be drawn by the ejector suction nozzle. The results showed that the motive nozzle controlled via PWM effect offers similar effectiveness to a conventional high-pressure expansion valve in the subcritical regime. Furthermore, it was observed that the PWM ejector is able to control the high pressure effectively while increasing the coefficient of performance (COP) by up to 5.3 % without and by up to 7.9 % with overfed evaporator compared to the baseline in the transition regime. The results also showed that the installation of the conventional high-pressure expansion valve is not necessary. Finally, the yearly performance of the aforementioned expansion devices was assessed in five different locations, i.e., Athens (Greece), Phoenix (USA), New Delhi (India), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Bangkok (Thailand). The outcomes revealed that the PWM ejector allows for a higher in yearly average COP (COP<sub>yearly avg</sub>) from 4.9 % (in Athens) to 11.8 % (in Bangkok) over the baseline.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142571193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antoine Metsue , Hakim Nesreddine , Yann Bartosiewicz , Sébastien Poncet
{"title":"Theoretical analysis of the optimal ejector operation and design within an ejector-based refrigeration system","authors":"Antoine Metsue , Hakim Nesreddine , Yann Bartosiewicz , Sébastien Poncet","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.020","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.020","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Optimal operation and design of ejectors are the subject of recent concerns, especially for the enhancement of refrigeration and heat pump cycles based on natural refrigerants like carbon dioxide. In this study, a thermodynamic analysis of an ejector-based refrigeration cycle is performed to determine both what operating pressures lead to the highest physically possible performance depending on the ambient conditions, and what are the main dimensions of the ejector leading to the best performance at a given ambient temperature. A state-of-the-art thermodynamic model for the prediction of the ejector performance is for the first time utilized to generate reliable operation and performance maps of the ejector cycle. Most notably, it is found that the optimal coefficient of performance is not necessarily found when the ejector operates at critical conditions but mostly when the device is under off-design regime, depending on the ejector internal efficiency and the hot side temperature. In addition, the analysis reveals that the performance of the cycle is not highly sensitive to the throat area ratio of the ejector given that the latter lies within an acceptable range. Those findings contribute to getting a better understanding of how the cycle benefits from the ejector and define design and control strategies for the cycle.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142428505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lanbo Lai , Xiaolin Wang , Gholamreza Kefayati , Eric Hu , Kim Choon Ng
{"title":"Optimisation of cooling performance and water consumption of a solid desiccant-assisted indirect evaporative cooling system using response surface methodology","authors":"Lanbo Lai , Xiaolin Wang , Gholamreza Kefayati , Eric Hu , Kim Choon Ng","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.023","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Solid desiccant-assisted dew-point indirect evaporative cooling (SD-DPIEC) systems have gained considerable attention as a potential eco-friendly alternative to vapour-compression cooling systems in building cooling applications. However, one major drawback of these systems is their substantial water consumption during evaporative cooling. To tackle this issue, this study aims to improve the cooling efficiency and water utilisation of an SD-DPIEC system using response surface methodology (RSM). This research focuses on optimising four key parameters: supply air temperature, humidity ratio, water consumption rate and coefficient of performance (COP). The independent variables encompass the ambient temperature, relative humidity, regeneration temperature, and recirculation air ratio. Employing a multi-objective optimisation approach via the desirability function, the optimised SD-DPIEC system is subsequently tested in two prevalent weather patterns in Australia. The results demonstrated that the regression models derived from RSM exhibited commendable predictive capability, with the determination coefficient <span><math><msup><mrow><mi>R</mi></mrow><mn>2</mn></msup></math></span> and Adequate Precision exceeding 0.97 and 40.46, respectively. The outcomes revealed that the system attained its optimal performance with a supply air temperature of 20.36 °C, humidity ratio of 12.56 g kg<sup>-1</sup>, a water consumption rate of 3.11 kg/hr, and COP of 2.03 under the ambient temperature of 33.79 °C, relative humidity of 68.48 %, regeneration temperature of 51.78 °C, and recirculation air ratio of 60 %. Based on the optimisation results, a case study was undertaken to evaluate the system's applicability in representative Australian climates. The results demonstrated that the system could uphold air conditions with the supply air temperature below 19 °C and humidity ratio below 11.51 g kg<sup>-1</sup> under the studied Australian climates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142428367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Atif Muzaffar , Ahmad Abbas , Lorenzo Cremaschi , Zahid Ayub
{"title":"Experimental study of two-phase pressure-drop in horizontal return bends with ammonia","authors":"Atif Muzaffar , Ahmad Abbas , Lorenzo Cremaschi , Zahid Ayub","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.021","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.021","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In evaporators and condensers of refrigeration and air conditioning systems, various straight tubes are joined via U-bends. These U-bends result in higher pressure drops due to flow disturbances and centrifugal effects. Accurate prediction of pressure drops in these bends is essential for reliable design and operation. This study investigates the two-phase flow pressure-drop in horizontal U-bends with ammonia under wide range of experimental conditions. Three pipes with nominal outer diameter between 22.2, 15.9, and 9.5 mm were used, each with three bend radii (<em>R/d<sub>o</sub></em> ratio) between 1.2 and 2.5 in horizontal configuration. Tests were conducted at saturation temperature of +10 and -15 °C, with mass flux varying between 10 and 50 kg m<sup>−2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>, and vapor quality between 0.1 and 0.9. The pressure-drop increased with mass flux and vapor quality while decreased with saturation temperature, pipe diameter and <em>R/d<sub>o</sub></em> ratio of the bend.</div><div>Large tubes exhibited a greater increase in pressure drop with rising mass flux and decreasing bend ratio compared to small tubes, which showed higher absolute values and more consistent performance across the vapor quality range at both saturation temperatures. The tube diameter had a less significant effect at high saturation temperature and high mass flux, while the bend curvature ratio predominantly influenced the pressure drop performance for large diameter tubes. One correlation from the literature predicted the data well only if the vapor quality was below 0.5. For wider range of quality, the existing models in the literature were not well-suited for predicting pressure drops in ammonia U-bends.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142428364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reduced-dimension Bayesian optimization for model calibration of transient vapor compression cycles","authors":"Jiacheng Ma , Donghun Kim , James E. Braun","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Development and calibration of first-principles dynamic models of vapor compression cycles (VCCs) is of critical importance for applications that include control design and fault detection and diagnostics. Nevertheless, the inherent complexity of models that are represented by large systems of differential–algebraic equations leads to significant challenges for model calibration processes that utilize classical gradient-based methods. Bayesian optimization (BO) is a sample-efficient and gradient-free approach using a probabilistic surrogate model and optimal search over a feasible parameter space. Despite the benefits of BO in reducing computational costs, challenges remain in dealing with a high-dimensional calibration task resulting from a large set of parameters that have significant impacts on system behavior and need to be calibrated simultaneously. This paper presents a reduced-dimension BO framework for calibrating transient VCCs models where the calibration space is projected to a low-dimensional subspace for accelerating convergence of the solution algorithm and consequently reducing the number of transient simulations. The proposed approach was demonstrated via two case studies associated with different VCC applications where 10 parameters were calibrated in each case using laboratory measurements. The reduced-dimension BO framework only required <span><math><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>/</mo><msup><mrow><mn>8</mn></mrow><mrow><mi>th</mi></mrow></msup></mrow></math></span> of the iterations associated with a standard BO method that deals with high-dimensional calibration parameters for converged solutions and yielded comparable accuracy. Furthermore, both calibrated models revealed significant accuracy improvements compared to uncalibrated models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142314736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhichao Chen , Shaoshuai Liu , Xinquan Sha , Yunwei Shen , Wang Yin , Zheng Huang , Lei Ding , Zhenhua Jiang , Zhihua Gan , Yinong Wu
{"title":"Essential improvement of the JT cryocooler working at liquid helium temperature for space: Efficient and lightweight","authors":"Zhichao Chen , Shaoshuai Liu , Xinquan Sha , Yunwei Shen , Wang Yin , Zheng Huang , Lei Ding , Zhenhua Jiang , Zhihua Gan , Yinong Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.08.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.08.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Due to long lifetime, low level vibration and negligible electromagnetic interference, the Joule-Thomson (JT) cryocooler working at liquid helium temperature has been used in space. However, its cooling capacity and thermodynamic efficiency still need to be further improved under a certain mass limit, which is an essential improvement for space-efficient application of the JT cryocooler. Therefore, in this study, optimization design is carried out for a JT cryocooler working at liquid helium temperature. Based on the modification of Stirling cryocooler, pulse tube cryocooler and JT compressor, the developed JT cryocooler can provide a cooling capacity of 0.36 W at 4.18 K while the total input power and the total mass (without cryostat) are 1157 W and 26.8 kg, respectively. Compared with the literature research, it can be found that the developed JT cryocooler is suitable for space applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142239276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Study on the impacts of refrigerant leakage on the performance and environmental benefits of heat pumps using R513A as replacement of R134a","authors":"Yansong Hu, Zhao Yang, Zhaoning Hou, Yanfeng Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.09.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The escalating threat of global warming has highlighted the imperative to address the greenhouse effect. R513A is recognized as a viable substitute for R134a, providing a lower global warming potential (GWP) while preserving similar thermodynamic properties. However, refrigerant leakage is one of the common faults in heat pump equipment. For industrial heat pumps, refrigerant leakage can make the system less stable and affect normal industrial production, while long-term leakage can also affect the carbon emissions of the industry. When substituting refrigerants, it is crucial to consider not only their distinct properties under typical operating conditions but also the stability and environmental impact of the alternative refrigerant in cases of leakage. This paper focuses on experimentally evaluating the impact of using R513A to replace R134a on the performance of refrigeration systems under the condition of rapid refrigerant leakage. Then the life cycle climate performance evaluation (LCCP) theory is used to assist experimental results in evaluating the carbon footprints of R513A and R134a systems at different annual leakage rates. The results show that R513A has better stability than R134a when responding to rapid refrigerant leakage. This paper determines the changes in annual electricity consumption and indirect emissions under several annual leakage rates and finds that the impact of leakage on indirect emissions is also not negligible. During the utilization phase of the equipment, when leakage was taken into account, the carbon emissions of the R134a system were higher.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14274,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Refrigeration-revue Internationale Du Froid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142428506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}