Comparison of a Novel Polymeric Hollow Fiber Heat Exchanger and a Commercially Available Metal Automotive Radiator.
Polymers (Basel) 2021;
13:polym13071175. [PMID:
33917588 PMCID:
PMC8038832 DOI:
10.3390/polym13071175]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
A novel heat exchanger for automotive applications developed by the Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Laboratory at the Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic, is compared with a conventional commercially available metal radiator. The heat transfer surface of this heat exchanger is composed of polymeric hollow fibers made from polyamide 612 by DuPont (Zytel LC6159). The cross-section of the polymeric radiator is identical to the aluminum radiator (louvered fins on flat tubes) in a Skoda Octavia and measures 720 × 480 mm. The goal of the study is to compare the functionality and performance parameters of both radiators based on the results of tests in a calibrated air wind tunnel. During testing, both heat exchangers were tested in conventional conditions used for car radiators with different air flow and coolant (50% ethylene glycol) rates. The polymeric hollow fiber heat exchanger demonstrated about 20% higher thermal performance for the same air flow. The efficiency of the polymeric radiator was in the range 80–93% and the efficiency of the aluminum radiator was in the range 64–84%. The polymeric radiator is 30% lighter than its conventional metal competitor. Both tested radiators had very similar pressure loss on the liquid side, but the polymeric radiator featured higher air pressure loss.
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