Modeling of Frosting on Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchanger of a Domestic Refrigerator

Domestic refrigerators typically use fin-and-tube type heat exchangers with variable fin pitch across the tube rows to accommodate for the reduction in the flow area due to frost formation. In the current study, a numerical model is developed in Modelica language to predict the heat and mass transfer across a typical tube–fin heat exchanger employed in a domestic refrigerator. Results obtained from the numerical model are validated using a purpose-built experimental setup. A comparison between the experimental and numerical results showed good agreement. Frost formation rate observed is constant, and the rate of heat transfer is higher in the bottom rows and decreases along the direction of the airflow.