Experimental study was conducted to investigate fluidelastic instability in finned tube bundles with normal and parallel triangular arrays. Three arrays of each geometry type were studied experimentally: two arrays with serrated, helically wound finned tubes of different fin densities, and a bare tube array with the same base diameter as the finned tubes. The finned tubes under consideration were commercial finned tubes typically used in the fossil and process industries. For the purpose of the present investigation, the concept of "effective diameter" of a finned tube, as used to predict the vortex shedding, was used to compare the finned tube results with the existing bare tube world data and some theoretical predictions for fluidelastic instability. The finned tube arrays in this study have the same tube pitch and have been scaled to have the same mass ratio and tuned to have the same natural frequency. A low speed wind tunnel, Betz micro manometer and HP 35670a dynamic signal analyzer were employed to conduct the experiments. Experimental results for the triangular arrays show that the fin's structure strongly influences the fluidelastic stability of finned tube bundles and the fin pitch is demonstrated to reduce the difference in the fluidelastic instability between the tube arrangements as the fin density increases. The results also suggest that there might be an optimum fin pitch value at which the threshold reduced velocity for a finned tube array is much higher than the one for its corresponding bare tube array, due to the influence of fin geometry. In the appendix, an analytical model produces a new correlation of critical reduced velocity against mass damping parameter to predict the fluidelastic instability of tube bundles. Its predictions are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Since negative damping is one of the mechanisms of fluidelastic instability of a tube array, "Lift effect" was applied to explain the negative damping in an inviscid flow. An experiment is suggested to test the relationship between the pitch flow velocity and a tube velocity dependent "lift effect". Accordingly, two duct structure designs are suggested which may alleviate the negative damping by using the energy of oncoming flow to reduce the "lift effect" on the tubes. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

No description available.

The heat transfer behavior of phase change material fluid under laminar flow conditions in circular tubes and internally longitudinal finned tubes are presented in this study. Two types of boundary conditions, including uniform axial heat flux with constant peripheral temperature and uniform axial and peripheral temperature, were considered in the case of circular tubes. An effective specific heat technique was used to model the phase change process assuming a hydrodynamically fully-developed flow at the entrance of the tube. Results were also obtained for the phase change process under hydro dynamically and thermally fully developed conditions. In case of a smooth circular tube with phase change material (PCM) fluid, results of Nusselt number were obtained by varying the bulk Stefan number. The Nusselt number results were found to be strongly dependent on the Stefan number. In the case of a finned tube two types of boundary conditions were studied. The first boundary condition had a uniform axial heat flux along the axis of the tube with a variable temperature on the peripheral surface of the tube. The second boundary condition had a constant temperature on the outer surface of the tube. The effective specific heat technique was again implemented to analyze the phase change process under both the boundary conditions. The Nusselt number was determined for a tube with two fins with different fin height ratios and fin thermal conductivity values. It was determined that the Nusselt number was strongly dependent on the Stefan number, fin thermal conductivity value, and height of the fins. It was also observed that for a constant heat axial flux boundary condition with peripherally varying temperature, the phase change slurry with the internally finned tube performed better than the one without fins. A similar trend was observed during the phase change process with internal fins under the constant wall temperature boundary condition.

The heat transfer behavior of phase change material fluid under laminar flow conditions in circular tubes and internally longitudinal finned tubes are presented in this study. Two types of boundary conditions, including uniform axial heat flux with constant peripheral temperature and uniform axial and peripheral temperature, were considered in the case of circular tubes. An effective specific heat technique was used to model the phase change process assuming a hydrodynamically fully-developed flow at the entrance of the tube. Results were also obtained for the phase change process under hydro dynamically and thermally fully developed conditions. In case of a smooth circular tube with phase change material (PCM) fluid, results of Nusselt number were obtained by varying the bulk Stefan number. The Nusselt number results were found to be strongly dependent on the Stefan number. In the case of a finned tube two types of boundary conditions were studied. The first boundary condition had a uniform axial heat flux along the axis of the tube with a variable temperature on the peripheral surface of the tube. The second boundary condition had a constant temperature on the outer surface of the tube. The effective specific heat technique was again implemented to analyze the phase change process under both the boundary conditions. The Nusselt number was determined for a tube with two fins with different fin height ratios and fin thermal conductivity values. It was determined that the Nusselt number was strongly dependent on the Stefan number, fin thermal conductivity value, and height of the fins. It was also observed that for a constant heat axial flux boundary condition with peripherally varying temperature, the phase change slurry with the internally finned tube performed better than the one without fins. A similar trend was observed during the phase change process with internal fins under the constant wall temperature boundary condition.

Finned-tube heat exchangers are predominantly used in space conditioning systems, as well as other applications requiring heat exchange between two fluids. One important widespread use is in residential air conditioning systems. These residential cooling systems influence the peak demand on the U.S. national electrical system, which occurs on the hot summer afternoons, and thereby sets the requirement for the expensive infrastructure requirement of the nations power plant and electrical distribution system. In addition to this peak demand, these residential air conditioners are major energy users that dominate residential electrical costs and environmental impact. The design of finned-tube heat exchangers requires the selection of over a dozen design parameters by the designer. The refrigerant side flow and heat transfer characteristics inside the tubes have been thoroughly studied. However, the air side flow around the tube bundle and through the fin gaps is much more complex and depends on over a dozen design parameters. Therefore, experimental measurement of the air side performance is needed. First this study built an experimental system and developed methodology for measuring the air side heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of fin tube heat exchangers. This capability was then used to continue the goal of expanding and clarifying the present knowledge and understanding of air side performance to enable the air conditioner system designer in verifying an optimum fin tube condenser design. In this study eight fin tube heat exchangers were tested over an air flow face velocity range of 5 ?? ft/s (675-1600cfm). The raw data were reduced to the desired heat transfer and friction data, j and f factors. This reduced heat transfer and friction data was plotted versus Reynolds number and compared. The effect of fin spacing, the number of rows and fin enhancement were all investigated. The heat transfer and friction data were also plotted and compared with various correlations available from open literature. The overall accuracy of each correlation to predict experimental data was calculated. Correlations by C.C. Wang (1998b, 1999) showed the best agreement with the data. Wangs correlations (1998b, 1999) were modified to fit the current studys data.

This master’s thesis deals with a design of Na-CO2 heat exchanger. There is a comparison of shell and tube heat exchanger with PCHE in the first part. Further the shell and tube heat exchanger with internally finned tubes was chosen as the basic conception. There was performed an optimization of construct and operations parameters for this concept. The optimization was performed on the basis of thermal and hydraulic calculations. Further there were performed calculations for ensuring of safe operation of the heat exchanger. The conclusion of the diploma thesis deals with comparison of the designed heat exchanger with similar projects.

Die Übertragung thermischer Energie durch Wärmeübertrager ist ein essentieller Vorgang in unterschiedlichen, technischen Prozessen. Die am häufigsten vorkommende Wärmeübertragerbauform bei der Wärmeabgabe an ein Gas ist der Rippenrohrwärmeübertrager. Bis zu 85 % des thermischen Widerstandes treten nach Wang et al. (2002) dabei gasseitig auf, weshalb eine Verbesserung des Wärmeüberganges wesentlich zur Erhöhung der Gesamtleistung beiträgt. Eine typische Anwendung von geneigten Rippenrohren sind luftgekühlte Kondensatoren. Der Einfluss der Rohrneigung auf die Wärmeübertragungs- und Strömungscharakteristik von Rippenrohren wurde in der Literatur bislang kaum untersucht. Luftgekühlte Kondensatoren werden allerdings in geneigter Orientierung installiert, um einen Kondensatablauf auf der Rohrinnenseite zu ermöglichen. Daher würde der Auslegungsprozess von luftgekühlten Kondensatoren wesentlich von einer experimentellen Charakterisierung des Einflusses der Rohrneigung auf die Wärmeübertragungs- und Strömungscharakteristik profitieren. Es existiert eine Vielzahl von Rippendesigns zur Erhöhung der luftseitigen Turbulenz entlang der Rippenoberfläche. In der Literatur konnten keine Rippendesigns gefunden werden, welche neben der Turbulenzerzeugung auch die Wärmeleitung von der Rippenbasis zur Rippenspitze verbessern und somit eine homogenere Temperaturverteilung erreichen. Wissenschaftliche Arbeiten zur Naturkonvektion beschränken sich auf numerische und experimentelle Analysen von berippten Einzelrohren. Rippenrohrbündel unter Naturkonvektion sowie der Einfluss der relevanten Rippen- und Rohrparameter auf die Wärmeübertragung der Rohrbündel wurde bislang kaum untersucht. Für die experimentellen Untersuchungen wurde ein 6,5 m langer vertikaler Strömungskanal errichtet, in welchem unterschiedliche Gleichrichter zur Homogenisierung der Strömung installiert waren. Mittels einer Kombination aus analytischen Näherungsverfahren und Vermessung der lokal aufgelösten Rippenoberflächentemperatur wurde der Rippenwirkungsgrad bestimmt. Die Neigung der Rohrachse gegenüber der Horizontalen erhöht die Nusselt-Zahl bei erzwungener Konvektion und erniedrigt diese bei natürlicher Konvektion. Bei erzwungener Konvektion ist das Leistungsverhalten der Wärmeübertrager unter geneigter Orientierung aufgrund des höheren Druckverlustes reduziert. Für beide Konvektionsarten sinkt der Einfluss des Neigungswinkels auf die Nusselt-Zahl mit abnehmendem Rippenabstand. Basierend auf den experimentellen Untersuchungen wurden Korrelationen entwickelt, um den Wärmeübergang in Abhängigkeit von der Reynolds-Zahl oder Rayleigh-Zahl, dem Neigungswinkel und dem Rippenabstand zu beschreiben. Die existierenden Rippendesigns zielen darauf ab, den gasseitigen konvektiven Wärmeübergang zu verbessern. Die Steigerung der Wärmeleitung durch das Rippendesign wird dabei weitestgehend vernachlässigt. Die Beeinflussung der Wärmeleitung, beispielsweise durch Veränderung des wärmeleitenden Querschnittes entlang des Rippenumfanges, ist durch konventionelle Fertigungstechnologien nur schwierig oder gar nicht realisierbar. Mit neuartigen Herstellungsverfahren, wie der additiven Fertigung, können diese komplexen Geometrien erzeugt und somit auch die Wärmeleitung lokal erhöht werden. Bei der additiven Fertigung wird ein Pulverbett selektiv mit einem Laser oder Elektronenstrahl aufgeschmolzen und das Bauteil schrittweise generiert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde diese Technologie genutzt, um Rippen mit verstärkenden, in der Rippenoberfläche integrierten, Stiften zu fertigen. Dadurch werden die Wärmeleitung und die Konvektion entlang der Rippenoberfläche verbessert. Zwei neuartige Designs wurden additiv gefertigt, experimentell in einem vertikalen Strömungskanal charakterisiert und patentiert. Bei den Untersuchungen wurde festgestellt, dass das Leistungsbewertungskriterium der geschlitzten integrierten Stiftrippe (SIPF) um 78,5 % höher und die Kompaktheit der runden integrierten Stiftrippe (CIPF) um 24,3 % höher ist als bei der konventionellen glatten Rohrrippe. Die Rohre mit neuartigem Rippendesign wurden auch unter verschiedenen Neigungswinkeln untersucht. Die Zunahme des Druckverlustes mit dem Rohrneigungswinkel ist niedriger als bei der konventionellen Rippe. Die SIPF erreicht bei einer Neigung von α=20 ° das höchste Leistungsverhalten und die CIPF erreicht bei α=40 ° Neigung die höchste volumetrische Wärmestromdichte. Die entwickelten Korrelationen beschreiben die Abhängigkeit dieser Designs von der Reynolds-Zahl für verschiedene Rippenabstände sowie von der Reynolds-Zahl für verschiedenen Neigungswinkel. Eine typische Anwendung von geneigten Rippenrohren sind luftgekühlte Kondensatoren, bei denen die Erfassung der thermischen Wärmeübertragungsleistung auf der Rohrinnenseite aufgrund des Phasenwechsels unter Umständen schwierig ist. Eine neue Messtechnik, der Temperatur-Anemometrie-Gittersensor (TAGS), wurde genutzt, um die luftseitige Temperatur und Strömungsgeschwindigkeit zeitgleich und ortsaufgelöst zur ermitteln. Die gemessene Temperaturverteilung ist für geneigte Rippenrohre stark ungleich verteilt. Fünf verschiedene Varianten zur Berechnung der thermischen Wärmeübertragungsleistung werden miteinander verglichen. Die Bestimmung mittels gewichteter Wärmestromdichten zeigt dabei die geringsten Abweichungen. Der numerische Strömungsberechnungscode ANSYS CFX 19.0 wurde verwendet, um den Einfluss der Rippen- und Rohrparameter auf die Naturkonvektion von Rippenrohrbündeln qualitativ zu analysieren. Basierend auf der numerischen Studie wurden die zu optimierenden Rippen- und Rohrparameter ausgewählt. Zu diesen Parametern zählen die Rippendicke, der Rippenabstand, die Rippenhöhe, das Rohrachsenverhältnis, die Rohranordnung, die transversalen und longitudinalen Rohrabstände sowie die Rohrreihenanzahl. Diese Optimierung wurde mit Erkenntnissen bezüglich der erzwungenen Konvektion aus der Literatur kombiniert, wobei das ovale Rippenrohrbündel ein Achsenverhältnis von 1:2, eine Rippendicke von 1 mm, einen Rippenabstand von 5 mm und eine Rippenhöhe von 17 mm hat. Die versetzte Anordnung hat einen longitudinalen Rohrabstand von 63 mm sowie einen transversalen Rohrabstand von 53 mm und wurde in zwei- und dreireihiger Rohrreihenanzahl ausgeführt. Numerische Simulationen dieses optimierten Wärmeübertragers wurden für Naturkonvektion und für erzwungene Konvektion durchgeführt und qualitativ verglichen. Die Simulationsergebnisse zeigen für beide Konvektionsarten ähnliche Strömungsphänomene, wie beispielsweise Staupunkte am Rohr, Nachlaufgebiete stromabwärts des Rohres und Beschleunigungsbereich zwischen den Rohrrippen. Die optimierten Rohrbündelwärmeübertrager wurden mit konventionellen Rippen und den neuartigen Rohrrippen in zweireihiger und dreireihiger Ausführung realisiert. In einer dafür angepassten Testsektion wurden die experimentellen Untersuchungen durchgeführt. Im Vergleich zur konventionellen Rippe zeigt die SIPF ein höheres Leistungsbewertungskriterium und eine um 52 % höhere Nusselt-Zahl für beide Ausführungen. Die CIPF erreicht eine um 22,4 % und 27,8 % höhere volumetrische Wärmestromdichte für die zweireihige und dreireihige Ausführung verglichen mit der konventionellen Rippe. Die Ergebnisse der experimentellen Untersuchungen der Rohrbündelwärmeübertrager unter Naturkonvektion in einem Kamin zeigen durchschnittlich 19,7 % und 10,9 % höhere Nusselt-Zahlen sowie 11,2 % und 4,0 % höhere volumetrische Wärmestromdichten der SIPF für die dreireihigen und zweireihigen Wärmeübertrager im Vergleich zum konventionellen Design. Ein verbessertes thermisches Leistungsverhalten für CIPF bei Naturkonvektion ist nicht zu erkennen. Diese Arbeit zeigt, wie durch moderne Fertigungsverfahren und neue Designs auch Komponenten mit einem hohen technologischen Reifegrad weiter optimiert werden können. Durch verbesserte Wärmeübertragungsleistung bei gleichzeitig niedrigerem Materialverbrauch können Wärmeübertrager effizienter und ressourcenschonender hergestellt und betrieben werden. / The transfer of heat is an essential process in many technical applications and is usually realized by heat exchangers. The most common design to transfer heat to a gas is the finned tube bundle heat exchanger. Since up to 85 % of the thermal resistance occur on the gas side, an improvement of the heat transfer from the wall into the gas would increase the total thermal performance significantly (Wang et al., 2002). The influence of tilted tubes on the thermal and flow performance of finned tubes has rarely been studied so far. This tilted orientation is of particular relevance for air cooled condensers, to allow liquid drainage inside the tube. Several fin designs were developed to enhance the air side flow mixing along the fin surface. However, a fin design which induces turbulence and simultaneously improves the heat conduction was not found in literature. The literature study evinces a focus of numerical and experimental work on natural convection of single finned tubes. In contrast to single tubes, the natural convection of finned tube bundles has been barely investigated so far. Especially the influence of fin and tube parameters as well as the fin design was mostly neglected for finned tube bundles at natural convection. A 6.5 𝑚 long vertical flow channel, including a flow straightener to homogenize the flow, was erected for the experimental investigations. The fin temperature was determined by a combination of an analytical approximation method and locally resolved temperature measurements. It was used to calculate the fin efficiency. The tube tilt angle increases the Nusselt number for forced convection and reduces the Nusselt number for natural convection. For forced convection the performance of the heat exchanger reduces with tube tilt angle due to the higher pressure drop. As the fin spacing reduces the influence of the tube tilt angle becomes small for both types of convection. Based on the experimental outcome correlations were developed to predict the heat transfer as a function of Reynolds number or Rayleigh number, the tube tilt angle and the fin spacing. The existing fin designs aim to improve the convective heat transfer and the heat conduction is mostly neglected. The influence on the heat conduction, e. g. by strengthening of the cross section for heat conduction along the fin circumference, is difficult or impossible to be achieved by conventional manufacturing technologies. Novel production techniques, such as additive manufacturing, allow the generation of complex geometries. In an additive manufacturing process a powder bed is selectively melted by a laser or electron beam, to stepwise generate the component. In the present study this technology was applied to produce fin surfaces with integrated pins to enhance the heat conduction within the fin and to improve convection along the fin surface. Two novel patented designs were developed and experimentally characterized in the flow channel. It was found, that the performance evaluation criterion of the serrated integrated pin fin (SIPF) is 78.5 % higher and the compactness of the circular integrated pin fin (CIPF) is 24.3 % higher compared to the convectional, plain fin (CPF). The tubes were also studied for various tube tilt angles. A smaller increase of the pressure drop occurs for the novel fin designs at higher tube tilt angle compared to the conventional design. The SIPF achieves the greatest performance at a tube tilt angle of 𝛼=20 ° and the CIPF achieves the highest volumetric heat flux density at 𝛼=40 °. An empirical correlation predicts the heat transfer from the designs depending on the Reynolds number for different fin spacing as well as on the Reynolds number for different tube tilt angle. Tilted finned tube heat exchangers are typically used as air-cooled condensers, where the determination of thermal heat transfer may be intricate on the tube inside due to the phase change. Therefore, a new sensor, the Temperature Anemometry Grid Sensor (TAGS), was used to measure the local and time resolved air side temperature and velocity distribution. For the tilted finned tubes a strongly inhomogeneous temperature distribution was measured. Five different approaches were compared to calculate the thermal power. The method with weighted heat flux densities gives the lowest deviation. The numerical fluid dynamics code ANSYS CFX 19.0 was applied to analyze the influence of fin and tube bundle parameters on the natural convection from finned tube bundles. Based on the numerical investigation the fin parameters, such as fin thickness, fin spacing and fin height as well as the tube bundle parameters, such as tube axis ratio, tube arrangement, transversal tube pitch, longitudinal tube pitch and tube row number, were optimized. These results were used together with data from literature to determine an optimal tube bundle. It has an axis ratio of 1:2, a fin thickness of 1 𝑚𝑚, a fin spacing of 5 𝑚𝑚 and a fin height of 17 𝑚𝑚. The staggered arrangement has a longitudinal tube pitch of 63 𝑚𝑚, a transversal tube pitch of 53 𝑚𝑚 and a tube row number between two and three. The optimized heat exchangers were simulated for forced and natural convection and the results are qualitatively compared. From these results the finned tube bundle configurations were generated for the conventional and the two novel fin designs in a two and three row arrangement. It was found, that for forced convection the SIPF give a higher thermal and flow performance as well as a 52 % greater Nusselt number compared to the conventional design for both arrangements. Furthermore, the CIPF achieves 22.4 % and 27.8 % higher volumetric heat flux density compared to the conventional design for the two row and three row arrangement. The experimental investigation of the tube bundle configurations under natural convection in a chimney show 19.7 % and 10.9 % greater Nusselt numbers as well as 11.2 % and 4.0 % higher volumetric heat flux density for the SIPF with three row and two row heat exchangers respectively compared to the conventional design. The CIPF does not achieve higher thermal performance for natural convection. The present investigation illustrates, that the application of modern manufacturing technologies and designs can further improve components, which are already at a high degree of maturity. The enhanced heat transfer and the simultaneous reduction of material consumption allows the development and operation of efficient and sustainable heat exchangers.

[pt] Em sistemas de refrigeração por compressão de vapor, o projeto adequado dos circuitos para o refrigerante nos trocadores de calor pode ter um impacto significativo no seu coeficiente de performance (COP). O projeto otimizado dos circuitos de refrigerante em sistemas de refrigeração com trocadores de calor do tipo tubo-aletado não é trivial, devido à complexidade de sua representação assim como o elevado número de possíveis combinações, mesmo quando metodologias inteligentes de otimização são empregadas. No presente trabalho propõe-se uma nova metodologia para a otimização simultânea (condensador e evaporador) dos circuitos do refrigerante em sistemas de refrigeração com trocadores de calor de tipo tubo-aletado. Esta metodologia, aqui denominada como GAFIS (Genetic algorithms applied in filtered spaces), mostra-se mais eficiente que as metodologias até então descritas na literatura. Foi aplicado o método GAFIS, em conjunto com um simulador completo para o sistema de refrigeração, Genesym, na otimização de unidades comerciais de condicionamento de ar de alto desempenho. Estudaram-se casos onde o sistema atingiu aumentos de até 15,3 por cento no coeficiente de performance. Em outros estudos, obtiveram-se casos onde o custo de produção foi reduzido em 3,85 por cento (do custo total da unidade), mantendo-se um similar desempenho (capacidade e COP). Testes de otimização, considerando-se diferentes diâmetros dos tubos, na construção dos trocadores de calor, e sistemas com distribuição não uniforme de velocidade de ar, também foram realizados com o GAFIS. Igualmente foram estudados condensadores de microcanais, devido ao interesse atual da indústria com estes trocadores de calor. A otimização do circuito para o refrigerante, neste caso, é relativamente simples, devido ao baixo custo computacional das simulações. Entretanto, modelos de simulação adequados para estes tipos de trocadores de calor só recentemente começaram a surgir, e não têm sido explorados de maneira adequada até a presente data. Explorou-se no presente trabalho, a influência, no desempenho térmico do condensador, dos parâmetros que definem o circuito do refrigerante. Para tal efeito, desenvolveu-se um modelo de simulação baseado em análise local, validado com dados experimentais disponíveis, de condensadores de microcanais de uso automotivo com diâmetro hidráulico (lado do refrigerante) de 0,9 e 1,0mm, para refrigerantes R-134a, Fluid-H e R-1234yf. Foram encontradas relações diretas entre os parâmetros geométricos que definem os circuitos de refrigerante no condensador e seu desempenho térmico. Tal fato pode ser utilizado como orientação expedita para o projeto do circuito ótimo do condensador. / [en] Refrigerant circuiting in condensers and evaporators has a significant effect in the performance of refrigeration systems. The optimized project of the refrigerant circuits in refrigeration systems with plate-fin heat exchangers is not trivial, due to the complexity of their representation as well as the high number of possible combinations, even when methodologies of intelligent optimization are used. The present work proposes a new methodology for the simultaneous optimization of refrigerant circuiting in air-air refrigeration systems with plate-fin heat exchangers. This new methodology, here defined as GAFIS (Genetic algorithms applied in filtered spaces), has proven to be more efficient than traditional methods. The GAFIS method was applied, in conjunction with a full refrigeration system simulator, Genesym, for the optimization of high performance commercial air-conditioning units. Typical cases were studied and a coefficient of performance improvement of up to 15.3 percent has been observed. In other studies, there were cases where the manufacturer s predicted cost was reduced in 3,85 percent (of total cost of the unit), while a similar thermal performance (capacity and COP) was maintained. Optimization tests, considering different diameters of tube, for the construction of heat exchangers, as well as systems with non-uniform air velocity distribution, were also performed with the GAFIS method. Microchannel condensers were also studied, given the current interest of industry on this kind of heat exchanger. The optimization of the refrigerant circuiting, in this case, would not be a major problem, due to the low computational cost of its simulation. However, simulation models appropriate for these types of heat exchangers have only been recently in use, and, to date, have not been adequately explored. In the present work, the influence on condenser performance of parameters that define the refrigerant circuiting has been investigated. For this purpose, a simulation model, based on local analysis, was developed. It was validated against experimental data, available from automotive microchannel condenser tests, with hydraulic diameters (refrigerantside) of 0.9 and 1.0mm for refrigerants R-134a, Fluid-H and R-1234yf. A direct relation was found between the geometric parameters that define the condenser refrigerant circuiting and its thermal performance. This fact can be appropriately used as guidance for expeditious design practices of the optimal refrigerant circuit of the condenser.