One simple way of increasing the heat transfer for a fin-and-tube heat exchanger is to increase the fin surface area. In this study, a series of tests were conducted on wide slit fin heat exchangers having an increased fin area (Pl/Pt = 0.87), and the results were compared with those of standard slit fin heat exchangers (Pl/Pt = 0.6). Thermal performances of wide silt-finned samples were superior to those of standard slit fin samples. For one row configuration, the j factor of the wide slit fin sample was 11% larger, and the f factor was 33 % smaller than those of the standard slit fin sample. The difference decreased as the number of tube row increased, although wide slit fin sample always yielded superior performance, The reason was attributed to the many narrower slits formed on the wide fin sample. Furthermore, the effect of fin pitch on j and f factor was not significant, and j factor decreased with the increase of the number of tube row.

An enthalpy exchange element (EEE) is frequently made of papers, and a concern exists on growth of fungus or bacteria. This concern may be eliminated if polymer membrane is used instead of paper. Furthermore, most existing enthalpy exchangers have cross-flow configuration, which yields lower performance than counter-flow one. In this study, a counter-flow enthalpy exchange element was made using PVDF and cellulose composite. Heat and moisture transfer tests were conducted changing the frontal air flow rate from 150 m 3 /h to 350 m 3 /h at both the heating and the cooling condition. Results showed that the temperature efficiencies were approximately the same independent of the weather condition. Humidity efficiencies at the heating condition, however, were higher than those at the cooling condition. Furthermore, the heat transfer coefficients approached the theoretical value as the flow rate increased. In addition, the vapor transmission rates at the heating condition were higher than those at the cooling condition, probably due to the higher humidity efficiency at the heating condition. Future research will be focused on moisture diffusion characteristics of the composite membrane, which requires further measurements of water holdup, equilibrium adsorption curve, etc.

Indirect evaporative coolers (IECs) are widely used for cooling of outdoor air in building air-conditioning and for cooling of indoor air in data center air-conditioning. However, for each case, the inlet air temperature and humidity condition to IEC are different, which may yield different cooling efficiency. In this study, tests were conducted at the two air conditions using two IEC samples having different channel pitch (3 mm × 5 mm, 5 mm × 5 mm). Results showed that the efficiencies of the 3 mm × 5 mm sample were 12~32% larger than those of the 5 mm × 5 mm sample due to 25% larger heat transfer area and the usage of smaller diameter channel. The efficiency was 10% larger at the data center condition than at the building condition. The reason may be attributed to a larger absolute humidity difference between the liquid film and the air at the data center condition. At the same air velocity, the pressure drops at the wet channel were 64~128% larger than those at the dry channel due to the presence of liquid film at the wet channel. Comparison of the data with predictions by the analytical model revealed that both the efficiency and the pressure drop were over-predicted. Possible reason may be the simplification of the channel geometry and the assumption of fully developed flow, which may be improved in the future.

Due to the concern on global warming, refrigerants having high GWP(Global Warming Potential) are being replaced to low GWP refrigerants. As for small slush maker, R-134a is being to replaced to R-290, whose GWP is 3. In this study, performance tests were conducted on the slush maker having dual evaporator, which was designed to operate using R-290. Results showed that the optimum refrigerant charge amount was 100g. At the charge amount, 61 minutes was needed to make a slush from a raw milk substance, which contained 10% sucrose. The power consumption was 0.89 kW, which yielded COP of 0.252. Tests were further conducted changing the outdoor air temperature. It was resulted that slush-making was possible at all outdoor temperatures except at an extreme temperature of 43°C. Even at the temperature, slush-making was possible if the machine operated with a single evaporator. The COP increased with the decrease of the outdoor temperature.