The purpose of the project was to increase the understanding of the flow- and heat transfer phenomena appearing in a brazed plate heat exchanger used as evaporator in a single family heat pump. Several different parameters influence the performance in this case, e.g. inlet vapor quality, heat flux, mass flow, distribution device at inlet and temperature profile on the heat source side. During the project these parameters have been varied and the performance of the heat exchanger investigated. The project has been mainly experimental, but theoretical investigations have been performed, based on the experimental results. One area which was specifically investigated was the influence of the design of the distribution device on the overall performance. Heat exchanges with identical heat transfer surfaces, but with different distribution devices were compared experimentally. Relatively large differences were found, at any given heat load. Depending on the load, different designs of the distributor was found to give the best results. In this report, the results of the project are presented in brief. A more complete description of the results is found in the ph.d. thesis in which the project has resulted. (Joachim Claesson: Thermal and Hydraulic Performance of Plate Heat Exchangers used as Evaporators
QC 20211201