Development of a Water-Cooled Condenser

Abstract

With the tightening of regulations on CO₂ emission, the development of electric vehicles (EV/PHV) is accelerating globally. Since electric vehicles have no heat source, a heat pump system using a water-cooled condenser (WCDS) to generate hot water by a hot refrigerant is required for efficient cabin heating and long-distance electric driving. This report describes the key features of our water-cooled condenser, including high performance, and small and low pressure drop.

For high performance, we designed an optimum core matrix with using offset fins for the refrigerant tube. We also showed that the offset fins have a much higher heat transfer coefficient than straight fins for refrigerant condensation.