3539 -- A Parametric Study of the Factors Governing the Rate of Frost Accumulation on Domestic Refrigerator-Freezer Finned-Tube Evaporator Coils PDF

The effect of various parameters on the rate of frost formation on a domestic refrigerator-freezer evaporator coil was investigated experimentally. The rate of frost deposition on the evaporator was determined to be constant with respect to time for a ten-hour testing period over a range of air-inlet temperatures and relative humidities, refrigerant temperatures, and air flow rates. Higher air inlet humidities and temperatures and lower refrigerant temperatures were found to increase the frosting rate. Varying the air flow rate was found to slightly affect the frosting rate. A higher air flow rate resulted in a slightly higher frosting rate. Based on these results, the frosting rate was correlated to a mass transfer driving potential (defined here as "the difference in the humidity ratio of the air at the evaporator surface and away from the surface") and the air flow rate.

KEYWORDS: frost, domestic, freezers, refrigerators, finned tubes, evaporators, coils, experiment, air temperature, relative humidity, refrigerants, temperature, air flow rate, measuring