Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces
Condensation frosting on fin surfaces has long been considered a challenging issue for heat exchangers (e.g., in air conditioners). Superhydrophobic/omniphobic surfaces have been exploited for passive surface anti-icing/-frosting, but the results show that the ice nucleation and frost propagation ar...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178857 |
| _version_ | 1811683869220405248 |
|---|---|
| author | Zhang, Tian-Yu Yang, Lizhong Zhang, Yu-Chen Fan, Li-Wu Yang, Chun |
| author2 | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering |
| author_facet | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Zhang, Tian-Yu Yang, Lizhong Zhang, Yu-Chen Fan, Li-Wu Yang, Chun |
| author_sort | Zhang, Tian-Yu |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Condensation frosting on fin surfaces has long been considered a challenging issue for heat exchangers (e.g., in air conditioners). Superhydrophobic/omniphobic surfaces have been exploited for passive surface anti-icing/-frosting, but the results show that the ice nucleation and frost propagation are merely delayed and only short-term prohibition can be realized. Here, we propose an alternative strategy to enable efficient and long-lasting frost prohibition by enhancing the inherent temperature gradient (TG) along a fin rather than modifying surface properties. At a fin base temperature of −10°C, we identify an ∼34% reduction of the long-term frosting area with ∼96% heat transfer enhancement by enhancing the dimensionless TG from ∼0.2 to ∼0.4. The surface modification can be incorporated with a tailored TG to get better frost-prohibition performance over the whole process. The finding of this work sheds light on a simple yet effective approach toward long-term anti-frosting for finned-tube heat exchangers and thermal management devices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:19:35Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/178857 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:19:35Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1788572024-07-13T16:48:00Z Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces Zhang, Tian-Yu Yang, Lizhong Zhang, Yu-Chen Fan, Li-Wu Yang, Chun School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) Engineering Condensation frosting Fin model Condensation frosting on fin surfaces has long been considered a challenging issue for heat exchangers (e.g., in air conditioners). Superhydrophobic/omniphobic surfaces have been exploited for passive surface anti-icing/-frosting, but the results show that the ice nucleation and frost propagation are merely delayed and only short-term prohibition can be realized. Here, we propose an alternative strategy to enable efficient and long-lasting frost prohibition by enhancing the inherent temperature gradient (TG) along a fin rather than modifying surface properties. At a fin base temperature of −10°C, we identify an ∼34% reduction of the long-term frosting area with ∼96% heat transfer enhancement by enhancing the dimensionless TG from ∼0.2 to ∼0.4. The surface modification can be incorporated with a tailored TG to get better frost-prohibition performance over the whole process. The finding of this work sheds light on a simple yet effective approach toward long-term anti-frosting for finned-tube heat exchangers and thermal management devices. Published version This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province under grant LZ22E060004 and the China Scholarship Council. 2024-07-09T04:57:08Z 2024-07-09T04:57:08Z 2024 Journal Article Zhang, T., Yang, L., Zhang, Y., Fan, L. & Yang, C. (2024). Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces. Cell Reports Physical Science, 5(6), 101970-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.101970 2666-3864 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178857 10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.101970 2-s2.0-85194539259 6 5 101970 en Cell Reports Physical Science © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Engineering Condensation frosting Fin model Zhang, Tian-Yu Yang, Lizhong Zhang, Yu-Chen Fan, Li-Wu Yang, Chun Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces |
| title | Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces |
| title_full | Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces |
| title_fullStr | Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces |
| title_short | Temperature-gradient-enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces |
| title_sort | temperature gradient enabled prohibition of condensation frosting on fin surfaces |
| topic | Engineering Condensation frosting Fin model |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178857 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhangtianyu temperaturegradientenabledprohibitionofcondensationfrostingonfinsurfaces AT yanglizhong temperaturegradientenabledprohibitionofcondensationfrostingonfinsurfaces AT zhangyuchen temperaturegradientenabledprohibitionofcondensationfrostingonfinsurfaces AT fanliwu temperaturegradientenabledprohibitionofcondensationfrostingonfinsurfaces AT yangchun temperaturegradientenabledprohibitionofcondensationfrostingonfinsurfaces |