Customized Aluminum Tube and Aluminum Fin Evaporator Coils Production Completed

Customized Aluminum Tube and Aluminum Fin Evaporator Coils Production Completed

Aluminum tube and fin evaporator is the core part of the refrigeration system to realize cooling through refrigerant evaporation and heat absorption. Due to the lightweight, excellent thermal conductivity and moderate cost of aluminum material, it is widely used in small and medium-sized refrigeration equipments such as household air-conditioners, refrigerating cabinets, dehumidifiers, and so on.

Basic structure composition

Aluminum tube: as a refrigerant circulation channel, usually using pure aluminum or 3003 aluminum alloy (containing manganese, to enhance the strength), the tube diameter is mostly φ5-12mm thin-walled light tube (wall thickness 0.3-0.8mm), through the bending process into a serpentine, U-shape and other bundles of tubes, to adapt to the internal space of the equipment.

Aluminum: aluminum fins installed outside the tube (thickness 0.1-0.3mm), through the wear piece + tube expansion process (expansion of the tube when the aluminum tube is slightly expanded, and the fins closely fit to reduce the contact thermal resistance), some high-end products using brazing process (combined with a more solid, lower thermal resistance).

Fin design:

Shape: mostly flat or corrugated (corrugated can disturb airflow and enhance heat transfer).

Pitch: according to the wind volume design, air conditioner evaporator fin pitch is usually 1.5-2.5mm (forced ventilation, wind speed 2-3m/s); refrigerator evaporator pitch 3-5mm (lower wind speed, to avoid frosting too quickly blocked).

Application Scenario

Domestic air conditioner (indoor unit evaporator):

adopts multi-row (2-4 rows) serpentine aluminum tubes + closely spaced aluminum fins, with cross-flow fan for forced ventilation, the refrigerant evaporates inside the tubes, absorbing the heat of the indoor air to achieve refrigeration.

To take into account the heat transfer efficiency and anti-condensation, the fin surface is usually treated with hydrophilic film (e.g. SiO₂ coating), so that condensate slides down quickly to avoid the formation of a water film that hinders heat transfer.

Commercial Refrigerator / Display Cabinet:

Mostly single-row or double-row aluminum tube evaporator, with wider fin spacing (3-5mm), adapted to low-temperature environments (evaporating temperature - 10~5℃), partly with defrosting function (electric heating wire or hot gas defrosting, to avoid too thick frost clogging the fins).

Aluminum tubes need to do anti-corrosion treatment (such as anodic oxidation), to prevent long-term erosion of condensate leading to leakage.

Dehumidifier evaporator:

As the front stage of the “evaporator - condenser” combination, the aluminum tube and sheet evaporator rapidly cools the air below the dew point, causing water vapor to condense into water droplets (discharged through the catch pan) to achieve dehumidification, and the subsequent condenser recovers the heat of the refrigerant to heat up the air, avoiding the air to be too cold.