Modeling of partially wet radial fin assembly used as a dehumidifier coil

Conference · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

OSTI ID:20000208

Rosario, L; Rahman, M M

This paper presents the analysis of heat transfer in a radial fin assembly during the process of dehumidification. In past studies, both fully-dry and fully-wet fins have been analyzed. New analytical formulation leading to a closed-form solution has been developed for a partially wet fin which is most common in dehumidifier coil operation during air conditioning. The parameters that influenced the heat transfer rate in the finned tube structure are ratio of fin to wall thermal conductivity, ratio of fin thickness to fin pitch, ratio of wall thickness to fin pitch, ratio of fin length to fin pitch, cold fluid Biot number, ambient Biot number, the relative humidity and dry bulb temperature of the incoming air, and the cold fluid temperature inside the coil. Calculations were carried out to study the performance of the heat exchanger. The computed results included the temperature distribution in the wall and the fin and the fin efficiency.

• Research Organization: University of South Florida Tampa, FL (US)
• OSTI ID: 20000208
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AIR CONDITIONERS
DRYING
FINS
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HEAT TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS