Sockit2me
10-02-2006, 06:40 AM
Hi all, I am totally new to refrigeration and am taking on a project to help me learn the basics. I am actually doing this to gain some experience in my spare time for my new job. I have been a control engineer for a large HVAC company in Oregon, USA for about a year now and I need to gain an understanding of how condensing units operate on a practical, hands on level. For fun I would like to design and build a chiller for my home PC and implement an automated control system on the entire system. My design parameters:
-The entire condensing unit and heat exchanger must fit in a 8.25"x25"x11" WxDxH enclosure.
-Must extract 450W out of the liquid coolant or as close as possible.
-Maintain a supply coolant temp of at least -40C or below.
-Air-cooled condenser
-Approximately 3quarts of coolant.
My resources:
-I can get any parts I need through my company.
-Help from our Technicians on the assembly end of things.
-All the time it takes
I would guess that a lot of this would hinge on the heat exchanger. Is it possible to have a multi-stage HX off of a single compressor? Can I achieve that low of a temp off of standard refrigerants(r410a, r507)
I'll worry about other practical concerns later, such as condensation and plumbing the coolant lines. Some practical tips on sizing everything, and the components would be great, or at least point me in the right direction to get the info(books, websites, etc.). Mainly I would like to know if I can extract that much energy with such a confined space to work with.
Thanks in advance, I have spent days wandering on the internet only to find generic abstracts, theory, and material that I simply couldnt apply.
-The entire condensing unit and heat exchanger must fit in a 8.25"x25"x11" WxDxH enclosure.
-Must extract 450W out of the liquid coolant or as close as possible.
-Maintain a supply coolant temp of at least -40C or below.
-Air-cooled condenser
-Approximately 3quarts of coolant.
My resources:
-I can get any parts I need through my company.
-Help from our Technicians on the assembly end of things.
-All the time it takes
I would guess that a lot of this would hinge on the heat exchanger. Is it possible to have a multi-stage HX off of a single compressor? Can I achieve that low of a temp off of standard refrigerants(r410a, r507)
I'll worry about other practical concerns later, such as condensation and plumbing the coolant lines. Some practical tips on sizing everything, and the components would be great, or at least point me in the right direction to get the info(books, websites, etc.). Mainly I would like to know if I can extract that much energy with such a confined space to work with.
Thanks in advance, I have spent days wandering on the internet only to find generic abstracts, theory, and material that I simply couldnt apply.