Defrosting Behavior of Fin-Tube Heat Exchanger with PTC Heating Sheet

In this paper, the defrosting characteristics of a PTC heating sheet is investigated by means of a defrosting heat source for the fin-tube heat exchanger in a refrigerator The defrosting characteristics of the PTC heating sheet are examined and compared with those of a conventional electric heater experimentally. It is found that the characteristics of the water draining rate with the defrosting time show a smoothly oscillating pattern when the PTC heating sheet Is used, and the drained water is completely melted. The defrosting efficiency of the PTC heating sheet is found to be about 75%, which is about 25% higher than that of the electric heater. Also, the reduction of the defrosting time and the increment of the defrosting efficiency may be obtained by improving the arrangement of the heating elements of the healing sheet. It is shown that the defrosting time of the PTC heating sheet increases linearly with the amount of frost, whereas the defrosting efficiency is nearly constant. When applying the PTC heating sheet to the refrigerating system, one should notice the fact that the defrosting performance of the PTC heating sheet may be degraded due to the repetitive operations.