Compressor cooling

[tomrdewac]

Why would it not be a good ideal to route the home cooling coil condensation water back to the top of the compressor where it could help cool it down, instead of the drain. Tom

[Brian_UK]

It all depends how much rust and corrosion you want in your system. The amount of water generated would be far more than could be evaporated by the compressor.

Also the thought of pumping water into a piece of equipment contained electrical components doesn't seem like a good idea to me

[US Iceman]

Why would it not be a good ideal to route the home cooling coil condensation water back to the top of the compressor where it could help cool it down, instead of the drain.

In short NO.

The electrical connections are not water-tight in the first place. Eventually, if not sooner, the water will find it's way into this area and cause a lot more damage than you think you are solving.

Secondly, the water cooling the compressor dome would not provide any appreciable benefit to the refrigeration system or the compressor.

[Andy]

Why would it not be a good ideal to route the home cooling coil condensation water back to the top of the compressor where it could help cool it down, instead of the drain. Tom

Thats where the water goes in a domestic fridge

A domestic fridge is a box with the door closed, an A/C system is a larger box which has lots of air ingress, and thus moisture to be removed, more than the compressor can boil off.

What about using the water in a tray with the discharge line in it, this would increase the condenser capacity

Kind Regards Andy

[tomrdewac]

Yes Andy
That is what I am thinking about. Have a heatsink plate (trayshaped) in which the water could evaporate. My though was that a cooler running compressor would be more efficent anf last longer..
Tom

[Andy]

Yes Andy
That is what I am thinking about. Have a heatsink plate (trayshaped) in which the water could evaporate. My though was that a cooler running compressor would be more efficent anf last longer..
Tom

Tom the water (condensate) wil probably just eat a hole in it

Most compressors are suction gas cooled, the extra bit of cooling one the shell won't help that much. But if you can use a stainless steel discharge line and snake it through the tray you will increase your condenser surface area a little

I could say run the water over the condenser, but this will build up solids on the condenser out of the water, cutting down the condenser capacity eventually.

Kind Regards Andy

[Erik Detroit]

This very thing is common practice with restaurant refrigeration units, Traulsen comes to mind. It's a rectangular dish about 1" deep with a flat rectangular stainless steel (i think) coil from the compressor discharge. The evaporator is higher than this dish, so it's just a gravity feed. The real benefit is that there is no need to plumb in a water drain, the cooler can be located anywhere in the kitchen. There must be a little energy savings, but I think it's small.

I once did an experiment with routing the condensate to a liquid line of an automotive system (on a bench in the lab), and using the cold water to increase subcooling. only about 1% gain COP and I think about 1% gain capacity in condition with the most condensate (Galveston Texas, high blower, outside air).

It's hard to justify the cost of plumbing, or a pump or the possibility of a leak with such small benefits.

[old gas bottle]

some of the old prescold compressors,semi hermetic used to have a coil of 15mm copper wraped arround the ribbing of the motor casing as part of the water cooling for the shell and tube, that cooled the compressor as there was no fan cooling,just a thought.

[US Iceman]

some of the old prescold compressors, semi hermetic used to have a coil of 15mm copper wrapped around the ribbing of the motor casing as part of the water cooling for the shell and tube, that cooled the compressor as there was no fan cooling, just a thought.

I've seen this before. On some old Servel or Brunner compressors used on water cooled condensing units in supermarkets (a long time ago I might add).

I was just thinking of this the other day for a project I'm working on right now. A similar type of requirement...motor cooling to supplement the suction return gas cooling.

[refteach]

The Traulsen units and others with that set up do it evaporate the condensate water so it does not cause any bacterial problems in restaurant kitchens. If the water is stagnent long enough bacteria can start up. You are right about increasing efficiency or reducing condenser size, its just a drop in the bucket (or pan) compared to what the condenser does, besides that it is not consistent enough to be counted on.