Numerical analysis of R-290/POE ISO 22 condensers based on the second law and SEER rating

The number of air-conditioning (AC) applications where natural refrigerants are used has grown in the past few years, mainly due to their favorable thermodynamic characteristics. Hence, a numerical investigation based on the second law of thermodynamics and Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) for R-290/POE ISO 22 condensers is performed, where the impact of the transversal number of tubes, fin density and length of the finned tube is evaluated for three types of fins (plain, wavy and louver). Thermodynamic properties were generated via the departure function approach using the Peng-Robinson equation of state. The influence of the POE ISO 22 concentration is also accounted for in the heat transfer and pressure drop calculations. Depending on the available heat transfer area, plain or louver fins are more indicated to enhance the AC performance enhancement. For a fixed cooling capacity, points of maximum second law efficiency are achieved when the transversal number of tubes and tube length are varied.