Improved energy performance of air-cooled water chillers with innovative condenser coil configurations – Part I: CFD simulation

In condensers of large air-cooled chillers, VV-shaped finned-tube condenser coils are usually configured with the upper fan, often resulting in unevenly distributed flow and varying wind speed. This may causes the heat transfer rate of the condenser to fall below the intended level and negatively affects the energy efficiency of the chiller. This first part of the study attempted to investigate the effects of various configurations of condensing coils, three types of variant fin configuration (VFC) and four types of variant row configuration (VRC), on reducing the mal-distribution of airflow across compact air-cooled condensers. Using CFD airflow simulation and heat transfer analysis, the results of this study showed that VRC-designed condensers improve airflow distribution and enhance heat transfer performance. The best case (Case C4) increased the average air velocity and overall heat transfer rate of the base case (Case A) by approximately 10.3% and 5.3%, respectively.

▶ CFD simulation used to find the best coil configuration for air-cooled condenser. ▶ We examine the performance of three VFC- and four VRC-designed condenser coils. ▶ VFC condenser coils were unable to improve heat transfer rate. ▶ VRC condenser coils improved both the airflow distribution and heat transfer rate.