Dust removal by water spray, condensation and defrosting based on superhydrophobic fin surface

Feng Wang, Xu Han, Zhihao Wang and Weibo Yang

Energy, 2024, vol. 304, issue C

Abstract: Dust deposition on the fin surface of the outdoor heat exchanger seriously affects the operating efficiency of the air source heat pump (ASHP). Considering the operation characteristics of ASHP in summer for cooling and in winter for heating, a dust removal strategy is proposed based on superhydrophobic fin surface (SFS). In summer, the SFS is sprayed to remove dust by collecting the condensate water of air conditioning. In winter, by coupling the dust deposition with the condensation or frosting/defrosting phenomenon on SFS, the self-propelled motions of condensate droplets or the peeling off of the frost layer in defrosting is used to realize the dust removal. The experiment results show that the water spray on SFS has excellent dust removal performance, and the deposited dust is completely removed after 2 sprays. The dust is carried away by the jumping or gliding of the water droplets. The condensation has poor dust removal performance and takes long removal time. After several hours of condensation, the dust removal rate is 89.6 % and 40.0 % on SFS under different dust deposition levels. Due to the peeling off of the frost layer from the SFS at beginning of defrosting, the melting water at the bottom of the frost layer carries the dust away from the fin surface effortlessly. After 2 defrosting cycles, the dust removal rate reaches 99.6 %, while it is 50.1 % on the bare surface. Therefore, the strategy of dust removal by water spray in summer and defrosting in winter is suitable for ASHP.

Keywords: Dust removal; Superhydrophobic surface; Water spray; Defrosting; Condensation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:304:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224019364

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.132162

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