The plate-finned tube evaporator performance, in terms of heat transfer rate and refrigerant pressure drops, is influenced by several choices done during the design process to be carried out complying with different constraints. In this paper different refrigerant circuitry layout options together with other parameters variations were investigated with the purpose of supporting designers. Performance predictions were calculated using the hybrid method as well as appropriate Performance Evaluation Criteria (PEC) were adopted to select the best layout. The hybrid method has been here revised and improved aiming at modelling heat exchangers with an approach closer to real configurations that include complex circuit layouts. The method was chosen as its main advantage (high accuracy in the results with low computational costs) allowed to easily perform operating conditions modifications to be compared.
The advantage of designing plate-finned tube evaporators applying the hybrid method is to combine low computational costs with the accurate results guaranteed by the use of predictive functions based on results of either numerical, or analytical, or experimental analysis. The high flexibility of the method makes it suitable for use as an effective design tool for evaporators in a wide range of operating conditions. This paper tells about improvements and refinements to the hybrid method algorithm performed to make it even more flexible and consistent with real heat exchangers performance prediction, depending on configuration changes. Part of the algorithm code has been changed in order to extend the application range of the model and several tests have been performed by varying the operating conditions such as the temperature difference between refrigerant and air at the inlet as well as the air relative humidity. The results show how the model is sensitive to the working conditions variations.
Finned tube heat exchangers are used in many technological applications in both civil and industrial sectors. Their large-scale use requires a design aimed at reaching high thermal efficiency as well as avoiding unnecessary waste of resources in terms of time and costs. Therefore, in the last decades, research in this area has developed considerably and numerous studies have been conducted on modeling in order to predict heat exchangers (HXs) performance and to optimize design parameters. In this paper, the main studies carried out on plate-finned tube HXs have been collected, analyzed, and summarized, classifying existing models by their scale approach (small, large, or multi-scale). In addition, the main methods of design optimization with a focus on circuitry configurations have been illustrated. Finally, future developments and research areas that need more in-depth analysis have been identified and discussed.
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