Heat transfer enhancement of actively-adjusting liquid–vapor in a double-row microchannel condenser

A novel double-row microchannel condenser used the actively-adjusting liquid–vapor mechanism and is then called the double-row liquid–vapor separation microchannel condenser (DLSMC). This study theoretically calculates the condensation heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and the pressure drop and ranks the in-tube thermodynamic performance of the DLSMCs. Then, the thermodynamic performance of the optimal DLSMC and a double-row parallel microchannel condenser (DPFMC) is studied experimentally. Results show that the tube number of a path affects the thermodynamic performance of the DLSMC, and the in-tube entropy generation difference between the optimal DLSMC and the other DLSMCs are approximately 0.7%–2.6%. Compared with the theoretical in-tube entropy generation of the DLSMC, the experimental in-tube entropy generation of the DLSMC is 0.9%–2.7% larger. Compared with the experimental in-tube entropy generation of the DPFMC, the experimental in-tube entropy generation of the DLSMC is 1.3%–4.4% lower. In addition, the HTC and the pressure drop of the first row are approximately 7.7%–9.5% and 13.3%–20.0% lower than those of the second row, respectively, indicating that both rows have different thermodynamic performance.