Сonvection influence on ice formation process on the evaporator heat pump pipes

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify the effect of convection on the ice growth process on the evaporator of heat pump, and how this growth can affect the heat exchange, and the evaporator performance. An experimental analyse is done on the heat pump station which depends on water as heat source. A 2D model is built in Comsol environment depending on Brinkman and heat transfer equations. The experimental and mathematical simulation results confirm that the ice formation has a negative effect on the evaporator heat exchange efficiency, and the convection has high effect on ice growth rate and this effect increases when the pipe is closer to the heat exchanger base. The effect of block size on the convection and ice growth rate must be studied in future.