Study of heat and mass exchangers in heat-driven systems: - theoretical modelling and experimental testing

Efficient use of energy in the industry and in the society is focussed in the present call for proposals. Energy efficiency requires careful selection and sizing of the components of the heat conversion technologies such as heat pumps and chillers. Compac t heat exchangers and enhancement of heat and mass transfer both have an important role in helping heat conversion systems to be cost-effective. The existing models for phase-change in ammonia-water mixtures rely on empirical correlations for heat- and m ass transfer coefficients. The proposed project will develop a numerical model based on the governing equations for heat- and mass transfer processes for the most promising heat exchanger geometries. Experimental validation of heat- and mass transfer mo dels in ammonia-water mixtures are limited in the literature. An experimental test unit for test of the heat- and mass transfer characteristics of compact heat exchanger geometries will be built at IFE. The results from the numerical model and the experim ental test unit will be compared. A prototype heat exchanger will be constructed, tested and integrated with a commercial heat pump supplied by Hybrid Energy AS in a future project.