Effect of Variable Geometry Fin in Automotive Condenser using Analytical and CFD Approach

Due to stiff competition among the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM's), the Comfort, Fuel efficiency & Safety are the key factors that drive the vehicle business, from that context Air Conditioning for a car plays a pivotal role in the area of comfort of the passengers and fuel efficiency point of view. In addition, condenser plays a pivotal role in Power train cooling system & air conditioning system. Therefore, it is a big challenge for the automotive engineer to propose an innovative design that can improve the thermal performance of Condenser without not compromise the package size. Also, it's a challenge for the OEM's to select the optimal heat exchanger from the supplier basket during the design phase of product development cycle. The objective of this paper to focus on analytical calculation or frame work was developed using excel tool considering the variable geometry of fin which includes louver pitch, louver angle and louver length in a multi-pass condenser. Further this theoretical calculation was validated using experimental data and CFD simulation. This theoretical excel tool can be used in the design phase of product development for the selection of the condenser suitable for the air conditioning system and further reduce the development cycle and thereby reduce the initial prototype. KEYWORDS: Variable geometry, Calorimeter, Heat transfer co-efficient.