IJIRST International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology| Volume 3 | Issue 02 | July 2016

ISSN (online): 2349-6010

Experimental Investigation of Effect of Electro

Hydrodynamic Effect on Performance of
Refrigeration System with R-134A
Miss. R. R. Kadam
PG Student
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. J.J. Magdum College of Engineering, Jaysingpur, Shivaji
University, Kolhapur, India

Prof. P. R. Kulkarni
Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. J.J. Magdum College of Engineering, Jaysingpur, Shivaji
University, Kolhapur, India

Abstract
Effects of applied of EHD on the performance of vapour compression refrigeration system are experimentally investigated to
present applicability of the EHD technique. In the experimental work the condenser section is modified only. The refrigerant is
cooled by dielectric fluid (transformer oil). Tests were performed at 21-22 LPH of refrigerant flow and at different electrical field
strengths (0-250 V), while average saturation temp was 54C and 6C. Experimental results demonstrate a remarkable potential
in utilizing EHD to enhance condensation heat transfer. It is concluded that the enhancement is driven by the effective removal
of the condensate through EHD induced liquid extraction and dispersion phenomena. For the presence of the electrodes, the
experimental results indicate that the maximum heat transfer rate obtained is 1.092040 kJ/sec and COP actual obtained is 4.98
which is 3 to 4 times more than without the EHD effect. This technique can be utilised effectively to the refrigeration system to
have better COP and also size of condenser as well as evaporator can be varied.
Keywords: Condensation heat transfer, COP, Electrical field strengths, Electrodes, Electro hydrodynamic
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I.

INTRODUCTION

Enhancing of heat transfer coefficient is an interesting area for both industry and academia. Achieving higher heat transfer rates
through various enhancement techniques results in protection of our environment. This is done through substantial energy
saving, due to both increasing of equipment performance, and designing of smaller systems to meet required loads. Electro
hydrodynamic effect as an active technique for enhancing heat and mass transfer, with a focus on industrial applications,
especially for evaporators and condensers. As phase change phenomena of boiling and condensation are very important mode in
heat transfer, improvement on enhancing heat transfer in both evaporators and condensers are highly required.
Heat exchangers are widely used for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. Heat exchangers are those devices
that facilitate the exchange of heat energy between two fluids that are at different temperatures while keeping them from mixing
with each other. A double pipe heat exchanger has two concentric pipes. Heat exchange takes place through the tube walls
between a first fluid (hot fluid) within the tubes and a second fluid (cold fluid) outside them, through annulus region, within the
casing. Heat exchangers are used in different processes ranging from conversion, utilization & recovery of thermal energy in
various industrial, commercial & domestic applications. Some common examples include steam generation & condensation in
power & cogeneration plants; sensible heating & cooling in thermal processing of chemical, pharmaceutical & agricultural
products; fluid heating in manufacturing & waste heat recovery etc. Increase in Heat exchangers performance can lead to more
economical design of heat exchanger which can help to make energy, material & cost savings related to a heat exchange process.
II. THEORY
Electrohydrodynamics: The electrohydrodynamic (EHD) effect is the effect in the interaction of electric fields and flow fields in
a dielectric fluid medium is involved. This interaction may result in electrically induced pumping, mixing, or enhancement of
heat transfer. The general mathematical expression (Landau & Lifshitz) of the electric body force is,
1
1

fe = cE E2 + [E2 ( ) T] (1)
2

Where, c =electric field space charge density,

E = applied electric field strength,
= dielectric permittivity of the fluid,
= mass density, and T = temperature.
The three terms on the right-hand side of Eq. (1) represent the electrophoretic, dielectrophoretic, and electrostrictive
components of the electric force respectively.

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Experimental Investigation of Effect of Electro Hydrodynamic Effect on Performance of Refrigeration System with R-134A
(IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 02/ 056)

1) The electrophoretic component represents the force which acts on the free charge in the presence of an electric field. It is
also known as the Coulomb force. This Coulomb force usually dominates over other two forces under the application of
direct current in dielectric fluid medium.
2) The dielectrophoretic component represents the force which is due to the spatial change of the permittivity of the dielectric
fluid medium as a result of temperature gradients and/or differences. The dielectrophoretic force is weaker than the
electrophoretic force as the permittivity of the working fluid is a weak function of the electric field.
3) The electrostrictive component represents the force caused by the inhomogeneous electric field strength and the variation in
dielectric constant with density and temperature.
Coulomb force has dominant effect, among these forces, in electrohydrodynamic and other two forces are neglected in EHD
effect. Thus, interaction of electric field with dielectic fluid medium may set up a mechanical body force which may be useful in
various applications such as heat transfer controlling, liquid film pumping, electronic device cooling, etc. In this technique, an
electric field characterized by a high voltage and low current is applied to the fluid.
III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
An experimental set-up has been designed and fabricated for the investigation of effect of electro hydrodynamic effect on
performance of refrigeration system with R-134a. A schematic diagram of the experimental set-up is shown in Figure.
Experimental setup consists of the vapour compression cycle i.e. refrigeration tutor. The cycle consists of main four components
compressor, condenser, thermostatic expansion valve, evaporator with pressure measurement gauges, and four temperature
measurement thermo couples which gives condenser inlet & outlet condition and evaporator inlet & outlet condition. Also
receiver and drier are used.
In the system hermetically sealed compressor with cooling fan is used having 1/3 ton capacity. Evaporator is coil type with
water cooled having size of pipe diameter 13.4 mm and 50foot. OD of coil is 190 mm. This coil is inserted in a tank of size 300
X 300 X 400 mm.
The test section is consists of condenser is coil type with transformer oil cooled having size OD of coil is 190 mm, 23 number
of turns and total length of copper pipe is 80 foot. It is placed in a tank having size 300 X 300 X 400 mm. Transformer oil heated
by the heat rejected by refrigerant in condenser pipe has to be cooled. For this purpose another water cooled heat exchanger is
used. The water coming out of evaporator section is re-circulated in it. Heat exchanger is a tank having size 250 X 250 X 320
mm. transformer oil is circulated by a 1/ 2 HP centrifugal regenerative pump which is self-primed.
Electro hydrodynamic effect is applied to condenser through DC power source. DC power source is made by autotransformer
and rectifier unit. For the investigation purpose, the condenser section is modified to apply the electric field. The condenser coils
are depeed in dielectric fluid. Two electrodes are immersed in the dielectric fluid and these electrodes are connected to dimmer
stat to vary the intensity of electric field in dielectric fluid medium. The secondary heat exchanger is used to cool the dielectric
fluid and again it is allowed to flow towards dielectric fluid reservoir.
Electrodes are made from the copper plate of size 30 X 300 mm and connection is given from the rectifiers.For the
measurement of pressure of high side and low side two pressure gauges are used. High side pressure gauge has range of 0-20
kg/cm2and low side pressure gauge has range 0-14 kg/cm2. For temperature measurement total 9 chromel-alumel thermocouple is
used which has the temperature range of 3-1643 C.In the control panel energy meter, ammeter, dimmer stat, temperature
indicator, on and off switches is used. For mass flow rate measurement rotameter is used having range of 0 to 60 LPH.

Fig. 1: Experimental set- up

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Experimental Investigation of Effect of Electro Hydrodynamic Effect on Performance of Refrigeration System with R-134A
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IV. EXPERIMENTATION ON TEST SECTION

1) Connect the water supply to the evaporator and secondary heat exchanger. Adjust the water flow rates. Start the pump it
will supply transformer oil to the condenser section adjust the flow rate of it.
2) Switch ON the main supply. Switch ON the compressor. Within about half an hour confirm the steadiness of the
temperatures. If temperatures have reached steady state note down all the readings and complete the observation table.
3) Initially experiment is carried out without the electro hydrodynamic effect and readings are taken. Reading for temperature,
pressure, mass flow rate is noted on the basis of it calculations are done.
4) Now supply electric current (DC) to wire electrodes (which are not shown in the figure) and adjust voltage with the help of
dimmerstat and repeat step (3). This will give the coefficient of performance of the system with application of electro
hydrodynamic effect. Different readings are taken by varying voltage with the help of dimmerstat and calculate the
coefficient of performance of the system.
5) Every test has to be run under constant mass flow rate, and at steady state condition, with or without the electric field.
6) Take the readings and we will check the effect of different input voltage on the performance of heat exchanger.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Using the data obtained from experiments, various COPS, heat transfer rate, compressor work, and heat transfer coefficient of
refrigeration system is discussed in following subsections.
Effect of EHD on Theoretical COP of Refrigeration System:

Fig. 1: Comparison between Theoretical COP with and without EHD effect.

Graph shows that for without application of the EHD effect the theoretical COP has variations from 3.8 to 5.4 and if the EHD
application is done then theoretical COP varies from 4.8 to 5.9. Also by observing the graph of with EHD effect, it seems that as
the voltage increases from 50 V to 250 V the COP value also increases gradually this is due the dissociation of the molecules in
the fluid due to application of EHD.

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Experimental Investigation of Effect of Electro Hydrodynamic Effect on Performance of Refrigeration System with R-134A
(IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 02/ 056)

Effect of EHD on Actual COP of Refrigeration System:

Fig. 2: Comparison between Actual COP with and without EHD effect

Graph gives variation of the Actual COP V/S applied voltage. Also it compares with and without EHD effect on the system.
Under application of EHD as the voltage increases the actual COP increases from value 1.5 to 5. This variation is due to increase
in the heat transfer by refrigerant to the transformer oil in the condenser section. As the voltage increases dissociation of the
molecules increases which forms the secondary flow in the system. In comparison to without EHD affect results the COP is more
with the EHD effect. In normal operation the COP obtained is 1 to 2.
Effect of EHD on Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient:

Fig. 3: Relation between overall heat transfer coefficients to the applied voltage

Graph shows the effect of EHD on the overall heat transfer coefficient. It can be observed that overall heat transfer coefficient
for without application of EHD is varies from 280 to 420 W/m2 K and that compared with the application of EHD then values
are up to 1100 W/m2 K. this increases is due to the voltage variation in the transformer oil which forms the fluid motion in it
which increases the heat transfer.

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Experimental Investigation of Effect of Electro Hydrodynamic Effect on Performance of Refrigeration System with R-134A
(IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 02/ 056)

Effect of EHD on Heat Transfer Rate:

Fig. 4: Relation between heat transfer rate and mass flow rate of refrigerant

Graph gives the variation of heat transfer rate due to application of the EHD effect. It seen that for the same mass flow rate of
refrigerant the heat transfer rate is increased as compared to the without EHD operation. From above graph, the heat transfer rate
(Q) of double pipe heat exchanger without EHD effect is lower than that EHD effect. This is because in the absence of electric
field, there is no any dissociation of molecules. But under the influence of electric field, fluid flow rate increases due to increase
in electrical body force (fe). Hence, as the strength of electric field increases, heat transfer rate of heat also increases rapidly.
Effect of EHD on Compressor Work:

Fig. 5: Relation between the compressor work and mass flow rate of refrigerant

Graph gives variation of compressor work with the application of EHD. It seems that for without application of EHD compressor
work is more and as we apply the EHD effect to the system then compressor work decreases for the same mass flow rate of
refrigerant. The EHD effect causes the sub cooling of the refrigerant in the condenser which reduces work required to run the
compressor. The more voltage can cause more reduced compressor work of the system, which results in increased COP of the
system.

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Experimental Investigation of Effect of Electro Hydrodynamic Effect on Performance of Refrigeration System with R-134A
(IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 02/ 056)

VI. CONCLUSIONS
Experimental study of vapour compression refrigeration system was performed using with and without electro hydrodynamic
(EHD) effect. The results will show comparison between with and without electro hydrodynamic (EHD) on the performance of
vapour compression refrigeration system.
The effects of parameters such as Heat transfer rate, Overall heat transfer coefficient, coefficient of performance on the heat
transfer were studied with and without EHD effect.
The conclusions from experimentation work are drawn as follows,
1) In vapour compression refrigeration cycle, to obtain effective heat exchange in condenser high voltage power supply is
required. The proper flow of transformer oil with high voltage power can enhance heat transfer rate in the condenser.
2) The electro hydrodynamic effect causes more temperature drop at outlet of the condenser which results in decreased
compressor work requirement and increases COP of the system.
3) It is found that as the heat transfer rate increases; overall heat transfer coefficient also increases for electro hydrodynamic
(EHD) effect on the performance of vapour compression refrigeration system as the voltage increases. When voltage across
electrode increases, dissociation of ions dielectric fluids also increases. This increase flow rate which is responsible for heat
transfer enhancement.
4) The heat transfer rates for EHD effect on the performance of vapour compression refrigeration system were 5-15% higher
than the without EHD effect heat exchanger. Improved heat transfer rates will ultimately allow smaller size and smaller
mass flow rate of refrigerant in the condenser.
5) From comparative experimental analysis, it is found that the coefficient of performance of the vapour compression
refrigeration system with EHD effect is 3 to 4 times higher than that without EHD effect.
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