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Experimental investigation and development of miniature microchannel condenser-based personal cooling system for firefighters

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Abstract

Reducing thermal discomfort of firefighters improves their performance by decreasing tiredness caused by the heat. Personal cooling system (PCS) can reduce thermal stress in high-temperature situations. This paper describes proposing PCS based on vapor compression refrigeration. Direct cooling method is applied for better performance and weight reduction. PCS comprises a miniature compressor, microchannel condenser, capillary tube, flexible polyurethane tube, battery, and vest. PCS performance is investigated with two different microchannel condensers (MC-1 and MC-2) and two different capillary tubes (ID: 0.84 mm and 1.18 mm) at ambient temperature (range: 34–50 °C) and heat generation (range: 100–500 W). Other influencing parameters namely refrigerant mass, compressor speed, and ambient temperatures, are analyzed for both condensers and capillary tubes. The cooling capacity, COP, and reversible efficiency of MC-1 are 3.1%, 0.26%, and 13.1% more than MC-2 at 50 °C and 500 W. COP of MC-2 is 11.24% and 0.26% more than MC-1 at 2500 rpm and 6500 rpm due to compressor work reduction. At M = 160 g, the difference in cooling capacity between MC-1 and MC-2 is less than 0.4% for 100 W and 3.19% for 500 W. At 50 °C and 500 W, the cooling capacity, COP, and reversible efficiency of ID 1.18 mm are 3.88%, 32%, and 24.28% more than ID 0.84 mm, respectively. Hence, 1.18 mm ID capillary tube with MC-2 performed better than others for its high COP and cooling capacity under all experimental conditions. A total weight of 4.335 kg, including the battery, is proposed to develop PCS for firefighters.

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Abbreviations

MC :

Microchannel Condenser [–]

VCR :

Vapor Compression Refrigeration [–]

COP :

Coefficient of Performance [–]

ID :

Inner Diameter [mm]

PPE :

Personal Protective Equipment [–]

PPC :

Personal Protective Clothing [–]

PCS :

Personal Cooling System [–]

DC :

Direct Current [V]

BLDC :

Brushless Direct Current [–]

h :

Enthalpy [kJ/kg]

\(Q_{E}\) :

Cooling capacity [W]

\(Q_{C}\) :

Heat rejection rate from Condenser [W]

\(M_{R}\) :

Mass flow rate of refrigerant [kg/s]

\(\Delta T_{Sub}\) :

Degree of subcooling [K]

\(\Delta T_{Sup}\) :

Degree of superheat [K]

\(T_{sat }\) :

Saturation temperature [K]

\(T\) :

Temperature [K]

\(P\) :

Pressure [KPa]

\(W_{in}\) :

Compressor work [W]

n :

Compressor speed [rpm]

V A :

Air velocity [m/s]

\(V_{dis}\) :

Displacement volume [m3]

T a :

Ambient or air temperature

M :

Mass of refrigerant charge [g]

M W :

Mass flow rate of water [L/min]

W :

Total width of microchannel condenser [mm]

H :

Total height of microchannel condenser [mm]

d :

Depth of microchannel condenser [mm]

D H :

Hydraulic Diameter [mm]

w c :

Microchannel width [mm]

h :

Microchannel height [mm]

l :

Microchannel length [mm]

F P :

Fin Pitch [mm]

F H :

Fin Height [mm]

δ :

Fin Thickness [mm]

t :

Tube thickness [mm]

T P :

Tube Pitch [mm]

L P :

Louver Pitch [mm]

α :

Louver angle [degree]

L L :

Louver Length [mm

ϕ :

Diameter [mm]

\(\eta_{v}\) :

Volumetric efficiency [–]

\(\eta_{rev}\) :

Reversible efficiency [–]

\(\rho\) :

Density [kg/m3]

a :

Air or ambient

c :

Condenser

dis :

Discharge

e :

Evaporator

in :

Inlet

H :

Hydraulic

R :

Refrigerant

sub :

Subcooling

sup :

Superheat

w :

Water

1:

Compressor inlet

2:

Compressor outlet

3:

Condenser outlet

4:

Capillary tube outlet

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Acknowledgements

Author thanks to the Department of Science and Technology supports this work under the scheme of the Instrumentation Development Programme (F. No: IDP/IND/11/2015).

Funding

DST-IDP,F. No: IDP/IND/11/2015, G Kumaraguruparan

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, M. Kumarasamy College of Engineering, Karur, Tamilnadu, India

    S. Satheesh Kumar

  2. Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, 625015, Tamilnadu, India

    G. Kumaraguruparan

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Correspondence to G. Kumaraguruparan.

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Kumar, S.S., Kumaraguruparan, G. Experimental investigation and development of miniature microchannel condenser-based personal cooling system for firefighters. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 45, 422 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04324-5

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