Heat Transfer Analysis of Conventional Round Tube and Microchannel Condensers in Automotive Air Conditioning System

Abstract

In this paper, an experimental analysis of conventional air-cooled and microchannel condensers in automotive vapor compression refrigeration cycle concerning heat transfer coefficient and energy using R134a as a refrigerant was presented. The performance of two condensers and cycles tested regarding ambient temperature which it was varied from 40^oC to 65^oC, while the indoor temperature and load have been set to be 23^oC and 2200 W respectively. Results showed that the microchannel condenser has 224 % and 77 % higher refrigerant side and air side heat transfer coefficient respectively than the coefficients of the conventional condenser. Thus, the COP, in case of using the microchannel condenser, was found to be 20 % higher than that of the conventional cycle. Also, the microchannel condenser has a 50 % smaller volume than the conventional. Therefore, it provides more space in the car engine container occupied with other components.