Thermal efficiency enhancement of an A/C system using computer simulations

In this study, effects of airflow maldistribution in a prototype V-shaped evaporator (Model CAD501) for an air-conditioning (A/C) system are investigated using computer simulations. The configuration of the fin-and-tube heat exchanger is first simplified into a 30-channel air flow passages and velocity profiles of air flowing through the simplified heat exchanger passages are obtained using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software Abaqus. The performances of the A/C system are then evaluated using thermodynamics software EES (Engineering Equation Solver) based on the velocity distribution provided by the CFD simulation. Methodologies are proposed to solve the problems associated with the air flow mal-distribution. Preliminary experiments are conducted to qualitatively verify some of the computer simulations.