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Numerical study on the two-phase flow pattern and temperature distribution in a loop thermosyphon as a defrost device at the evaporator in the refrigerator

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Abstract

This paper discusses the two-phase flow pattern and temperature distribution in a loop thermosyphon as a defrost device at the surface of the evaporator in the refrigerator with different heater locations and different heating power. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study was carried out using ANSYS FLUENT 15.0. The volume of fluid (VOF) model was considered to simulate evaporation and condensation at the heater surface using user-defined functions (UDFs). 2D geometries were developed with a heater inserted in the loop thermosyphon. The simulation results were verified using Fadhl’s experimental and numerical temperature data [2]. The maximum difference is 2.4 % between the calculated data and Fadhl’s data. The two-phase flow pattern and the temperature field varied with the different heater locations and heating power values. The thermal performance was evaluated based on the average temperature and temperature uniformity inside the loop thermosyphon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, San 30, Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, 609-735, Korea

    Seong Hyun Park & Man Yeong Ha

  2. Home Appliance and Air Solution Company, LG Electronics, Gaeumjeong-Dong, Seong San Gu, Changwon, Korea

    Young Soo Kim & Seung Youn Kim

  3. Rolls-Royce and Pusan National University Technology Centre in Thermal Management, Jang Jeon 2-Dong, Geum Jeong Gu, Busan, 609-735, Korea

    Yong Gap Park

Authors
  1. Seong Hyun Park
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  2. Young Soo Kim
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  3. Seung Youn Kim
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  4. Yong Gap Park
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  5. Man Yeong Ha
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Man Yeong Ha.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Chang Yong Park

Man-Yeong Ha received his B.S. degree from Pusan National University, Korea, in 1981, M.S. degree, in 1983, from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, and Ph.D. degree from Pennsylvania State University, USA in 1990. Dr. Ha is currently a Professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering at Pusan National University in Busan, Korea. He serves as an Editor of the Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology. His research interests are focused on thermal management, computational fluid dynamics, and micro/nano fluidics.

Yong Gap Park received his B.S. degree from Pusan National University, Korea, in 2008, and Ph.D. degree from Pusan National University, Korea in 2014. Dr. Park is currently a Research Professor at Rolls-Royce and Pusan National University Technology Centre in Thermal Management, in Busan, Korea. His research interests are focused on natural convection, heat exchanger and computational fluid dynamics.

Seong Hyun Park received her B.S. degree from Pusan National University, Korea, in 2010. He started attending Pusan National University for the integrated Ph.D. program under the supervision of professor Man Yeong Ha. His research interests are focused on numerical simulation on two phase flow with phase change and heat exchanger.

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Park, S.H., Kim, Y.S., Kim, S.Y. et al. Numerical study on the two-phase flow pattern and temperature distribution in a loop thermosyphon as a defrost device at the evaporator in the refrigerator. J Mech Sci Technol 32, 5927–5936 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-1144-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-1144-2

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