• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1325-1331
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• 2002

This study presents a numerical model to predict the behavior of frost layer growth. The characteristics of the heat and mass transfer inside the frost layer are analyzed by coupling the air flow with the frost layer. The present model is validated by comparing with the several other analytical models. It has been known that most of the previous models cause considerable errors depending on the working conditions or correlations used in predicting the frost thickness growth, whereas the model in this work estimates the thickness of the frost layer more accurately within an error of 10% in comparison with the experimental data. Simulation results are presented for variations of heat and mass transfer during the frost formation and for the behavior of frost layer growth along the direction of air flow.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.261-267
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• 2002

The integral boundary layer equation for the air side and the diffusion equation for the frost layer are numerically analyzed in order to predict the behavior of frost layer growth. The thickness and density of the frost layer obtained from the present study agree well with those of previous numerical results and experimental data with a maximum error of 13%. The characteristics of heat and mass transfer within the frost layer and the frost layer growth along the flow direction are investigated by performing numerical analysis. The effects of operating conditions on the frost layer growth are also examined.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.1461-1466
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• 2003

This paper presents the effects of the fin array and pitch on the frost layer growth of a heat exchanger. The numerical results are compared with experimental data of a cold plate to validate the present model, and agree well with experimental data within a maximum error of 8%. The characteristics of the frost formation on staggered fin array are somewhat different from those of in-line array. The frost layer at the first fin of the in-line array grows rapidly, compared to second fin, whereas the difference of the frost layer growth between the fins of the staggered array is small. For fin pitch below 10 mm, the frost layer growth of second fin in the staggered array is affected by that of first fin. The frost layer growth and heat transfer of single fin deteriorate with decreasing fin pitch regardless of fin array, however, the thermal performance of a heat exchanger, considering increase of heat surface area, becomes better.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.711-717
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• 2003

This paper presents the effects of the fin array and pitch on the frost layer growth of a heat exchanger. The numerical results are compared with experimental data of a cold plate to validate the present model, and agree well with experimental data within a maximum error of 8%. The frost behaviors of the staggered fin array are somewhat different from those of in-line array. The frost layer formed on the first fin of the in-line array grows rapidly, compared to second fin, whereas the difference of the frost layer growth between the fins of the staggered array is small. For fin pitch below 10 m, the frost layer growth of second fin in the staggered array is affected by that of first fin. The thickness of the frost layer and heat transfer of single fin are reduced with decreasing fin pitch regardless of fin array. However, the thermal performance of a heat exchanger is enhanced due to the increase of heat transfer surface area.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.1546-1551
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• 2004

This paper presents a mathematical model to predict the frost properties and heal and mass transfer within the frost layer formed on a cold plate. The laminar flow equations for the air-side are analyzed. and the empirical correlations of local frost properties are employed in order to predict the frost layer growth. The correlations of local frost density and effective thermal conductivity of frost layer, obtained from various experimental conditions, are derived as functions of various frosting parameters (Reynolds number, frost surface temperature, absolute humidity and temperature of moist air, cooling plate temperature, and frost density). The numerical results are compared with experimental data and the results of various models to validate the present model, and agree well with experimental data within a maximum error of 10%. The heat and mass transfer coefficients obtained from the numerical analyses are presented, as the results, it is found that the model for frost growth using the correlation of heat transfer coefficient without solving air flow have a limitation in its application.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.240-245
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• 2000

In this study, thickness, density and effective thermal conductivity of frost forming on the horizontal cylinder were measured with various air temperature and humidity. Reynolds number and temperature of cooling surface are controlled 17300 and $-l5^{\circ}C$ respectively. In each case of air temperature $5^{\circ}C,\;10^{\circ}C,\;15^{\circ}C,$ varying absolute humidity, experiments were executed. In measuring frost surface temperature and thickness of frost layer, infrared thermocouples and CCD camera were used. Frost was gathered from cylinder to measure mass of frost layer. Experimental data showed that the thickness and effective thermal conductivity of the frost layer increase with respect to time. Thickness of frost layer increase with humidity increasing, and density of frost layer increase with air temperature rising. Frost growth with air temperature and density of frost layer with humidity are affected by whether dew point is below or above freezing point.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.249-258
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• 1997

In this study, a numerical model for analyzing frost formation phenomena on a cold flat plate has been developed. Both regions of air flow and frost layer have been coupled to calculate the amount of the heat and mass transfer between air flow and frost layer. Experiments have been also conducted to validate the numerical model. The present numerical results show a good agreement with the experimental data. The present numerical model also provides some useful data such as the temperature distribution inside the frost layer which could not be obtained through the experiments.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.211-216
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• 1999

One of the problems in a refrigerator operation is the frost formation on a cold surface of the evaporator. The frost layer is formed by the sublimation of water vapor when the surface temperature is below the freezing point. This frost layer is usually porous and formed on the cold surface of the evaporator. The frost layer on the surface of a evaporator will make side effect such as thermal resistance. However, these important factors have not been used in determining the defrosting period. In this report, a prediction taking into account the change of the fin efficiency due to the growth of the frost layer.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1114-1121
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• 2003

A mathematical model considering the air side and the frost layer is presented to predict the frost layer growth. The standard k-$\varepsilon$ model for the air flow and the diffusion and energy equations for the frost layer are employed. The numerical results are compared with experimental data to validate the present model, and agree well with experimental data within a maximum error of 10%. The present model predicts well the frost properties and heat and mass transfer with respect to the frosting time. The variation of total heat transfer strongly depends on the operating condition, and has a similar trend to that of the sensible heat transfer. The frost properties along the flow direction are also investigated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.1096-1105
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• 1996

A theoretical model of the frost formation has been presented to investigate the characteristics of the growth of frost layer by considering molecular diffusion of water vapor and heat generation caused by sublimation of water vapor in the frost layer. The present model was compared with existing experimental data as well as a previous model. The difference between the present model and existing experimental data was found to be about 6 percent. An analysis for the behavior of frost formation using present model shows a good agreement with the trend for a number of experimentally observed features. The present analysis can also provide the physical understanding on the phenomena of the frost formation.