Effects of tube diameter and tubeside fin geometry on the heat transfer performance of air-cooled condensers

A theoretical study has been made on the effects of tube diameter and tubes ide fin geometry on the heat transfer performance of air-cooled condensers. Extensive numerical calculations of overall heat transfer from refrigerant R410A flowing inside a horizontal microfin tube to ambient air were conduc ted for a typical operating condition of the condenser. The tubeside heat t ransfer coefficient was calculated by applying a modified stratified flow m odel developed by Wang et al. (2000). The numerical results show that the e ffects of tube diameter, fin height, fin number and helix angle of groove a re significant, whereas those of the width of flat portion at the fin tip, the radius of round corner at the fin tip and the fin half tip angle are sm all.