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Experimental and numerical investigation of thermosyphone performance in HVAC system applications

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Abstract

An experimental and numerical investigations are conducted on a Two Phase Closed Thermosyphon (TPCT) charged with six working fluids; namely (water, methanol, ethanol, acetone, butanol and R134a) with filling ratios (40, 50, 60, 70 and 100 %). The TPCT is made from a 0.016 m diameter copper tube, which consists of a 0.15 m evaporator, 0.1 m adiabatic and 0.15 m condenser sections, respectively. Thermocouples are located in the core and on the wall of the TPCT. The main objectives of the experimental investigation are to analyze the effect of the working fluid and filling ratio (liquid inventory) under heat inputs (20–120 W) with a fixed condenser cooling temperature of (25 °C) on the thermal performance of the TPCT. The results are compared with a simulation model using finite difference method in three dimensional cylindrical coordinates by using FORTRAN. The correlations of the phase change for the TPCT based on the theory of thermal resistance are used in the evaporator and condenser sections. The agreement between theoretical and experimental results is shown to be accurate within 10 %. The results showed that the maximum heat transport ability is associated with using of water and acetone where it is compared with other fluids under the same range of operating temperatures of 35–50 °C. This is the range between lowest and highest temperatures for the sub-tropical climates.

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Abbreviations

A:

Surface area (m2)

c:

Specific heat (kJ/kg k)

C:

Factor

D:

Diameter (m)

g:

Gravitational acceleration (m/s2)

h:

Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)

hfg :

Latent heat of vapourisation (J/kg)

I:

Current (A)

k:

Thermal conductivity (W/m K)

l:

Length (m)

\( \mathop m\limits^{ \circ } \) :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

p:

Pressure (Pa)

P:

Electric heat input (Watt)

Q:

Heat transfer rate (W)

Q:

Heat flux (W/m2)

R:

Thermal resistance (°C/W)

T:

Temperature (°C)

V:

Voltage (V)

θ:

Angle (°)

μ:

Dynamic viscosity (N s/m2)

ρ:

Density (kg/m3)

σ:

Surface tension (N/m)

wout:

Water outlet

win:

Water inlet

atm:

Atmospheric

c:

Condenser section

cu:

Copper

e:

Evaporator section

exp:

Experimental

f:

Fluid

sat:

Saturation

th:

Theoretical

wout:

Water outlet

win:

Water inlet

v:

Vapour

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technical Institute of Najaf, Foundation of Technical Education, Najaf, Iraq

    Adel A. Eidan

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Basra, Basra, Iraq

    Saleh E. Najim

  3. Electro-mechanical Engineering Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq

    Jalal M. Jalil

Authors
  1. Adel A. Eidan
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  2. Saleh E. Najim
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  3. Jalal M. Jalil
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Correspondence to Jalal M. Jalil.

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Eidan, A.A., Najim, S.E. & Jalil, J.M. Experimental and numerical investigation of thermosyphone performance in HVAC system applications. Heat Mass Transfer 52, 2879–2893 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1800-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1800-y

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