CFD ANALYSIS ON HEAT TRANSFER PERFORMANCE OF A REFRIGERATOR CONDENSER

In this study, the heat transfer and flow field of a condenser used for a Kim-chi refrigerator is analysed with numerical method. Main objective is to present the basic data for designing a new condenser model with improvement of heat transfer performance. For CFD analysis, a commercial code, STAR CCM+ was used. The water was used for the inner working fluid and the air was used for the outer fluid. The condenser type used in this study is a flat plate fin-and-tube heat exchanger. As analysis parameters, the effect of condenser geometry and air velocity was investigated. For validation of the numerical calculations, the results were compared with the experimental ones. The heat transfer rates for both results were consistent with each other by maximum 5 % error. Based on this comparison, the numerical analysis was done with some modifications. As a result, it has been observed that there is a suitable fin pitch with which heat transfer performance of condenser is maximized.