• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.802-809
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• 2000

This study numerically analyzes the thermal and flow characteristics inside the header in PFHE(parallel-flow heat exchanger) by employing a three-dimensional turbulence modeling. The following quantities are examined by varying the injection angle of the working fluid, the location of entrance and the shape of entrance: flow nonuniformity, heat transfer rate, and flow distribution in each passage. The result shows that the degree of significance among the parameters affecting the header part is in the order of the injection angle, the shape of entrance, and the location of entrance. The result also indicates that heat transfer rates compared to the reference model are increased by about 152% for the angle of injection of -$20^{\circ}C$, by about 127% for the shape of entrance with right and left long rectangular form, and by about 108% for the location of entrance located at the lowest Position.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.130-136
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• 2008

The refrigerant R-134a flow distributions are experimentally studied for a round header/ten flat tube test section simulating a brazed aluminum heat exchanger. Three different inlet orientations(parallel, normal, vertical) were investigated. Tests were conducted with downward flow for the mass flux from 70 to 130 $kg/m^2s$ and quality from 0.2 to 0.6. In the test section, tubes were flush-mounted with no protrusion into the header. It is shown that normal and vertical inlet yielded approximately similar flow distribution. At high mass fluxes or high qualities, however, slightly better results were obtained for normal inlet configuration. The flow distribution was worst for the parallel inlet configuration. Possible explanation is provided based on flow visualization results.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.1123-1128
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• 2009

The refrigerant R-134a flow distributions are experimentally studied for a round header/ten flat tube test section simulating a brazed aluminum heat exchanger. Three different inlet orientations (parallel, normal, vertical) were investigated. Tests were conducted with downward flow for the mass flux from 70 to $130\;kg/m^2s$ and quality from 0.2 to 0.6. In the test section, tubes were flush-mounted with no protrusion into the header. It is shown that normal and vertical inlet yielded approximately similar flow distribution. At high mass fluxes or high qualities, however, slightly better results were obtained for normal inlet configuration. The flow distribution was worst for the parallel inlet configuration. Possible explanation is provided based on flow visualization results.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.55-65
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• 2006

The air and water flow distribution are experimentally studied for a round header - flat tube geometry simulating a parallel flow heat exchanger. The number of branch flat tube is thirty. The effects of tube outlet direction, tube protrusion depth as well as mass flux, and quality are investigated. The flow at the header inlet is identified as annular. For the downward flow configuration, the water flow distribution is significantly affected by the tube protrusion depth. For flush-mounted configuration, most of the water flows through frontal part of the header. As the protrusion depth increases, more water is forced to the rear part of the header. The effect of mass flux or quality is qualitatively the same as that of the protrusion depth. Increase of the mass flux or quality forces the water to rear part of the header. For the upward flow configuration, however, most of the water flows through rear part of the header. The protrusion depth, mass flux, or quality does not significantly alter the flow pattern. Possible explanations are provided based on the flow visualization results. Negligible difference on the water flow distribution was observed between the parallel and the reverse flow configuration.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.37-43
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• 2008

The air and water flow distributions are experimentally studied for a round header - ten flat tube configuration. Three different inlet orientation modes (parallel, normal, vertical) were investigated. Tests were conducted with downward flow configuration for the mass flux from 70 to $130kg/m^2s$, quality from 0.2 to 0.6, non-dimensional protrusion depth (h/D) from 0,0 to 0.5. It is shown that, for almost all the test conditions, vertical inlet yielded the best flow distribution, followed by normal and parallel inlet. Possible explanation is provided using flow visualization results.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2108-2112
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• 2007

The air and water flow distribution are experimentally studied for a round header-ten microchannel tube configuration. Three different inlet orientations (parallel, side, normal) were investigated. Tests were conducted with downward flow configuration for the mass flux from 70 to 130 kg/$m^2s$, quality from 0.2 to 0.6, non-dimensional protrusion depth (h/D) from 0.0 to 0.5. It is shown that, for almost all the test conditions, normal inlet yielded the best flow distribution, followed by side and parallel inlet. Possible reasoning is provided using flow visualization results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.781-788
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• 2003

In the present study, the heat and flow characteristics of a parallel-flow heat exchanger are numerically analyzed by using three-dimensional turbulent modeling. Heat transfer rate and pressure drop are evaluated using the concept of the efficiency index by varying the locations, the shapes and angles of inlet/outlet, and the protrusion height of flat tube. It is found that negative angle of the inlet improves the heat transfer rate and pressure drop. Results show that the locations of the inlet and outlet should be toward the right side and the left side to the reference model, respectively, in order to enhance the heat transfer rate and pressure drop. Increasing the height of the lower header causes pressure drop to decrease and yields the good flow characteristics. The lower protrusion height of flat tube shows the improvement of the heat transfer rate and pressure drop. The heat transfer rate is greatly affected by the parameters of outlet side such as the location and angle of the outlet. However, the pressure drop is influenced by the parameters of inlet side such as the location and angle of inlet and the height of the header.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.296-303
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• 2004

The heat and flow characteristics in a single-phase parallel-flow heat exchanger was examined numerically to obtain its optimal shape. A response surface method was introduced to approximately predict its performance with respect to the design parameters over the design domain. The inflow/outflow angle of the working fluid, the location of inlet/outlet, the protruding height of flat tube and the height of header were chosen as a design parameter The evaluation of the relative importance of the design parameters was performed based on a sensitivity analysis. An efficiency index was used as an evaluation characteristics value to simultaneously consider both the heat transfer and the pressure drop. The efficiency index of the optimum model, compared to that of the base model, was increased by 9.3%.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.687-697
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• 2006

The air and water flow distribution are experimentally studied for a heat exchanger composed of round headers and 10 flat tubes. The effects of tube protrusion depth as well as mass flux, and quality are investigated, and the results are compared with the previous 30 channel results. The flow at the header inlet is annular. For the downward flow configuration, the water flow distribution is significantly affected by the tube protrusion depth. For flush-mounted geometry, significant portion of the water flows through frontal part of the header. As the protrusion depth increases, more water is forced to the rear part of the header. The effect of mass flux or quality is qualitatively the same as that of the protrusion depth. Increase of the mass flux or quality forces the water to rear part of the header. For the upward flow configuration, different from the downward configuration, significant portion of the water flows through the rear part of the header. The effect of the protrusion depth is the same as that of the downward flow. As the protrusion depth increases, more water is forced to the rear part of the header. However, the effect of mass flux or quality is opposite to the downward flow case. As the mass flux or quality increases, more water flows through the frontal part of the header. Compared with the previous thirty channel configuration, the present ten channel configuration yields better flow distribution. Possible explanation is provided from the flow visualization results.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.800-810
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• 2006

The R-134a flow distribution is experimentally studied for a heat exchanger composed of round headers and 10 flat tubes. The effects of tube protrusion depth as well as mass flux, and quality are investigated, and the results are compared with the previous air-water results. The flow at the header inlet is stratified. For the downward flow configuration, the liquid distribution improves as the protrusion depth or the mass flux increases, or the quality decreases. For the upward configuration, the liquid distribution improves as the mass flux or quality decreases. The protrusion depth has minimal effect. For the downward configuration. the effect of quality on liquid distribution is significantly affected by the flow regime at the header inlet. For the stratified inlet flow, the liquid is forced to rear part of the header as the quality decreases. However, for the annular inlet flow, the liquid was forced to the frontal part of the header as the quality decreased. For the upward flow, the effect of the mass flux or quality on liquid distribution of the stratified inlet flow is opposite to that of the annular inlet flow. The high gas velocity of the annular flow may be responsible for the trend. Generally, the liquid distribution of the stratified inlet flow is better than that of the annular inlet flow. Possible explanation is provided from the flow visualization results.