An existing customer wanted to develop a Refrigeration system using CO2 as a refrigerant. The capacity of the unit was to be same as compared to their existing unit using R134a refrigerant.

Danvita engineers had to design and simulate the Refrigeration system with CO2 as a refrigerant. The Refrigeration system was to operate at a supercritical state and the design was not akin to a normal condenser. The operating point was very critical and any slight change in design consideration would adversely affect the total performance of the system.

Danvita’s engineers simulated the heat exchanger capacity as a gas cooler unit, with the supercritical point of CO2 gas.

With precise simulation, a heat exchanger design was finalized and a single circuit was proposed. The heat exchanger was designed with a thermal break of 1mm between the rows of tubing.

For mechanical stability, suitable tube thickness was selected and later tested for a burst pressure of 500 bar. The operating conditions was 120 bar at 120 deg C.

The design and sample was found to meet the desired parameters and right on its first attempt!