Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer Processes on Water Trays in Household Refrigerators

This paper describes an experimental and theoretical analysis of the heat and mass transfer processes that take place during defrosted water evaporation from compressor water trays. The influence of the operating conditions on the water evaporation rate was experimentally evaluated using a purpose-built testing facility. Two different tray designs were studied (top hat and membrane). In total, 16 experiments were carried out with the water evaporation rate varying from 4 g/h to 37 g/h. It was found that the compressor shell temperature was up to 11.6C lower and the average water evaporation rate was up to 109.5% higher in the membrane tray design. A dynamic simulation model was also developed and used to predict both the compressor shell temperature and the water evaporation rate. The model results were compared with the experimental data and over 80% of the model predictions for the average water evaporation rate lay within a 15% error band. It was also found that the water and compressor shell temperatures were predicted with maximum root mean square errors (RMSEs) of approximately 1.4oC and 3.2oC, respectively.