THE EFFECT OF ADAPTIVE LIQUID-VAPOR SEPARATORS FOR ENHANCING CONDENSATION HEAT TRANSFER IN A CONDENSER

In this paper, an adaptive liquid separation structure for enhancing condenser heat transfer is proposed. Performances of two stage adaptive liquid-vapor separation condenser (ALSC) and two stage U-type liquid-vapor separation condenser (ULSC) with R134a as working fluid are studied and compared under different air speeds. Moreover, thermodynamic characteristics of the condenser with adaptive liquid-vapor separators are studied. The results show that the adaptive separator further improves the heat transfer performance of related tube passes, thus improving the thermodynamic characteristics of the entire ALSC. The heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of the ALSC is 14.0% ~ 18.3% higher than that of the ULSC. Compared with the ULSC, the ALSC has lower pressure drop and higher unit coefficient of performance. The differences of HTC of the first three tube passes of the ALSC are no more than 9.8% under different heat loads, which proves that the ALSC has good adaptability.