Variation on hydraulic diameter for the different PETG condenser tube thickness

One of the four major components of a refrigeration system is the condenser. It is where the refrigerant releases the heat it absorbed by condensing from vapor to liquid form. This study aimed to design a condenser made of Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) and analyze the effects of varying its hydraulic diameter, wall thickness of the PETG tube, and the addition of fins. The PETG condenser shines in other aspects, like its low weight and low material cost. Different data were gathered including the outlet temperature of the refrigerant, pressure developed inside the PETG tube, and the maximum temperature of the solid PETG material. The results showed that by varying the hydraulic diameter, the wall thickness, and the addition of fins indeed have an effect in the cooling ability of the PETG condenser. The best non-finned condenser is the 3DT2 model while the best finned condenser is the 3DT3. When compared to their copper counterparts, the PETG condensers performed a little bit lower in their efficiency but were able to make it up with the lightweight and lower material cost. It is observed that the 1.0 mm hydraulic diameter PETG condenser consistently resulted in the higher solid temperature across the different hydraulic diameters ranging from 66.47 °C to 67.27 °C followed by the PETG condensers with 3.0 mm hydraulic diameter and solid temperature ranging from 64.05 °C to 65.25 °C, and the 5.0 mm hydraulic diameter with solid temperature ranging from 60.02 °C to 63.16 °C which is well below of the PETG melting temperature of 260.0 oC.