Ice Rink Refrigeration System with Carbon Dioxide as Secondary Fluid in Copper Tubes

• This investigation presents the development of a refrigeration system for ice rinks based on carbon dioxide as phase changing secondary fluid in copper tubes with aim at optimising heat transfer, pressure drop and costs. A miniature ice rink was built and designed with copper tubes imbedded in a concrete slab. The tubes were developed for this purpose to have best possible conduction, protection and manufacturability at low cost.Experimental tests were conducted with CO2 circulated in the tubes of two different lengths and diameters by a hermetic pump. Correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop were compared with the experimental results to find the most suitable ones for this application.Based on the found correlations a theoretical model was developed for numerical optimisation of the geometry. Good agreement was found between the model and the experimental results.The numerical optimisation shows that the circulation rate (CR) has little influence on the overall temperature difference across the tubes when super imposing the influence of pressure drop and heat transfer. Consequently the CR should be chosen as low as possible to ensure no superheat. An economical optimisation illustrates the influence of the tube pitch on the cost of operational and the investment. The higher the annual average heat load is, the tighter the pitch should be chosen. For moderate average loads, up to 100 W/m2, the standard 100 mm pitch is found to be sufficient for 1/2” tubes.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Energiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Energy Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

SRA - Energy

SRA - Energi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)