Numerical model for microchannel condensers and gas coolers: Part I – Model description and validation

The present work presents a model (Fin1Dx3) for air-to-refrigerant microchannel condensers and gas coolers, with any refrigerant circuitry. The model applies a segment-by-segment discretization to the heat exchanger, adding in each segment a novel bi-dimensional discretization to the fluids flow, fin and tube wall. Fin1Dx3 introduces a new approach to model the air-side heat transfer by using a composed function for the fin wall temperature, which allows to take into account more fundamentally the heat conduction between tubes. The proposed model accounts for: 2D longitudinal heat conduction in the tube wall, the heat conduction between tubes along the fin, and the unmixed air influence on performance. The paper presents the heat exchanger discretization, the governing equations, the numerical scheme employed to discretize equations and the solving methodology. The model has been validated against experimental data for both a condenser and a gas cooler, resulting in predicted capacity errors within ±5%.