Replacing round tube heat exchangers with flattened tube technology may enable the air conditioning industry to provide comfort cooling using a new refrigerant that increases efficiency, but not size. According to a report from the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute (ARTI), University of Illinois researchers studied the exchangers under wet and frosted surface conditions.

Replacing round tube heat exchangers with flattened tube technology may enable the air conditioning industry to provide comfort cooling using a new refrigerant that increases efficiency, but not size. According to a report from the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute (ARTI), University of Illinois researchers studied the exchangers under wet and frosted surface conditions. They found that the geometry of a flattened tube, compared to a traditional round tube heat exchanger, allows for improved heat transfer and thermal performance; increased coil and overall unit efficiency; substantial refrigerant charge reduction and a more compact and reduced coil size. To read the report, An Assessment of the State-of-the-Art and Potential Design Improvements, for Flat-Tube Heat exchangers in Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Applications, go to www.arti-research.org.