Title: Metal additively manufactured air-cooled condenser for enhanced thermohydraulic performance

Authors: Muhammad Noorazri Bin Samad; Leymus Yong Xiang Lum; Jin Yao Ho; Teck Neng Wong; Kai Choong Leong

Addresses: Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore ' School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore ' Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore ' Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore ' Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore

Abstract: This study involves the development of an air-cooled condenser with porous lattice P-cell structures of 7 mm unit cell size on the air-side from an aluminium alloy (AlSi10Mg) powder by selective laser melting (SLM). The internal flow channels for enhanced condensation of R134a were designed with triangular cross-sections and a hydraulic diameter of 5 mm. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the condenser's thermohydraulic performance. The results demonstrate that the P-cell design increased the heat transfer rate per unit volume and per air mass flow rate of the air-cooled condenser by a factor of 2.81 as compared to a conventional plate fin-and-tube heat exchanger. The fan power efficiency is comparable to a conventional plate-fin-and-tube heat exchanger. The feasibility of using SLM to fabricate a robust air-cooled condenser for high pressure operation is demonstrated.

Keywords: additive manufacturing; selective laser melting; SLM; porous lattice; air-cooled condenser; heat exchanger.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHM.2024.140566

International Journal of Hydromechatronics, 2024 Vol.7 No.3, pp.264 - 277

Received: 15 Sep 2023
Accepted: 16 Jan 2024
Published online: 23 Aug 2024 *

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