Frost Growth CFD Model of an Integrated Active Desiccant Rooftop Unit
- ORNL
A frost growth model is incorporated into a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of a heat pump by means of a user-defined function in FLUENT, a commercial CFD code. The transient model is applied to the outdoor section of an Integrated Active Desiccant Rooftop (IADR) unit in heating mode. IADR is a hybrid vapor compression and active desiccant unit capable of handling 100% outdoor air (dedicated outdoor air system) or as a total conditioning system, handling both outdoor air and space cooling or heating loads. The predicted increase in flow resistance and loss in heat transfer capacity due to frost build-up are compared to experimental pressure drop readings and thermal imaging. The purpose of this work is to develop a CFD model that is capable of predicting frost growth, an invaluable tool in evaluating the effectiveness of defrost-on-demand cycles.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Cooling, Heating and Power Integration Laboratory
- Sponsoring Organization:
- OE USDOE - Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 993002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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