Fabrication and Frosting Properties Study of Surface-Active Agents Coating Based on Nanoporous Aluminum Substrate

Song He, Yanmei Zhang, Wansheng Yang, Xudong Zhao and Bin Zeng
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Song He: School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Yanmei Zhang: School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Wansheng Yang: School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Xudong Zhao: School of Engineering, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
Bin Zeng: School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-25

Abstract: In order to solve the frosting and blockage problem of an air conditioning evaporator’s fin in winter, the nanoporous aluminum plates with low surface energy has been proposed in this paper, which are fabricated by an anodizing method and then modified by lauric acid. The nanoporous aluminum plates with different nanoporous diameters ranging from 15 nm to 400 nm are obtained by changing the magnitude of the oxidation current. The surface contact angle of the nanoporous aluminum plates is an important factor influencing its surface frost and condensation. The test results show that the surface contact angle is decreased with the increasing of nanoporous diameter. When the nanoporous aluminum plates are modified by lauric acid, the contact angle is proportional to the nanoporous diameter, and the maximum contact angle can reach about 171°. A set of experimental instruments has been set up to simulate the typical winter climate in northern China, and the frosting properties of the nanoporous aluminum plate’s fin is analyzed by experiment. The results show that increasing the contact angle of aluminum plates can effectively improve its anti-frosting properties. The average frosting rate of the aluminum plate with the contact angle of 60° is about 0.33 [g/(min?m 2 )], which is 1.74 times that of the aluminum plate with the contact angle of 171°, whose frosting rate is about 0.19 [g/(min?m 2 )]. After taking the expanded aperture processing to the aluminum plate, the diameter with 30 nm, 100 nm, 200 nm, 300 nm, and 400 nm nanoporous aluminum plates are obtained and the polished aluminum plates are also prepared for comparing. Through the test results, the nanoporous aluminum plates are shown to have anti-frosting properties, and the nanoporous aluminum plates with diameter of 300 nm are shown to have the best anti-frosting properties. The calculation mode of frosting growth is derived on the base of experimental results. This research will be helpful in indicating the potential research area of the low-carbon-emission and energy-saving technology for the researchers all over the world.

Keywords: nanoporous aluminum plate; anti-frosting; theoretical model; experimental analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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