Performance Analyses of the Industrial Cooling System with Microchannel Condenser: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Increasing the efficiency in equipment used in energy systems has a growing interest in the matter of energy efficiency and environmental effects. Microchannel heat exchangers, which will increase the efficiency of heat exchangers in cooling systems and reduce the amount of refrigerant charge, are of great importance. In this study, the theoretical and experimental results of classical and microchannel condensers used in a basic vapor compression cooling system were represented using R449a refrigerant. Two separate industrial systems with classical and microchannel condensers were designed, manufactured and tested under the same conditions. According to the test results performed for 24 hours, the average coefficient of performance, exergy efficiency and CO2 emission values of the system with classical condenser and microchannel condenser were calculated as 2.086, 2.351; 23.950%, 25.564% and 16.357, 14.438 kg/hour, respectively. As a result, it has been seen that microchannel heat exchanger usage provides an advantage in terms of total energy consumption and total CO2 emissions compared to the classical system at the rate of approximately 11% and using microchannel heat exchanger in industrial cooling systems has been recommended.