Proposal, Robustness Analysis and Equivalent Implementation of Optimization Method for Row-by-Row Fin Distribution in Multi-Row Frosting Evaporator

Yu Sun, Rijing Zhao, Siyuan Wu and Dong Huang
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Yu Sun: Department of Refrigeration & Cryogenic Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Rijing Zhao: Department of Refrigeration & Cryogenic Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Siyuan Wu: Department of Refrigeration & Cryogenic Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Dong Huang: Department of Refrigeration & Cryogenic Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: The evaporator in a frost-free refrigerator typically has more tube rows, but frost deposition reduces along the airflow direction. Correspondingly, the evaporator fin distribution is thinner in the upstream rows but denser downstream, and a good match between frost and fin distribution is achieved to recover evaporator capacity loss. However, quantitative design principles of non-uniform fin distribution are lacking. A quasi-static frosting evaporator model is established and experimentally verified considering a three-dimensional (3D) evaporator, 1D frost growth and 1D non-uniform fin distribution. An optimization method for row-by-row fin distribution of a multi-row frosting evaporator is proposed based on the air pressure drop’s increase rate. When the increase rate in the air pressure drop of each row is almost equal, the smallest overall evaporator pressure drop is obtained, leading to the highest air flowrate and the greatest evaporator capacity. By applying the method, the air flowrate and the evaporator capacity increase by 5.5% and 4.6%, respectively, compared to the original fin distribution scheme. Moreover, the robustness of the optimization method is validated under wide temperature and humidity operating conditions. An equivalent implementation under an initial no-frost condition is also proposed to facilitate the optimization method without calculating the whole frosting process.

Keywords: finned tube evaporator; frost; fin distribution; optimization method (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: 2021
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