Seminar 38--The Surprising Effects of Outdoor Coil Fouling on Heat Transfer and Frost Formation Rate

This product is a zip file that contains files that consist of PowerPoint slides synchronized with the audio-recording of the speaker, PDF files of the slides, and audio only (mp3 format) as noted.

Fouling on the air-cooled outdoor coil of unitary equipment is believed to reduce capacity and efficiency of the system. ASHRAE RP-1705 quantified the impacts and established a method to realistically simulate fouling in the laboratory. This seminar presents highlights of the project, and follow-on work studying the effect of fouling on frost formation of heat pump evaporators. One surprising finding was that in many cases, fouling improves the performance of the coil, even though it reduces the airflow rate. An online article about these findings has reached over 70,000 readers and republished in dozens of newspapers worldwide.

1. Air Cooled Condenser Fouling: Real World Effects

David Yuill, Ph.D., P.E., Member, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Omaha, NE

David Yuill, Ph.D., P.E., Member, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Omaha, NE