Publications Details

Development and Evaluation of a Sandia Cooler-based Refrigerator Condenser

Johnson, Terry A.; Kariya, Harumichi A.; Leick, Michael T.; Zimmerman, Mark D.; Li, Manjie Y.; Du, Yilin; Lee, Hoseong H.; Hwang, Yunho Y.; Radermacher, Reinhard R.

This report describes the first design of a refrigerator condenser using the Sandia Cooler, i.e. air - bearing supported rotating heat - sink impeller. The project included baseline performance testing of a residential refrigerator, analysis and design development of a Sandia Cooler condenser assembly including a spiral channel baseplate, and performance measurement and validation of this condenser system as incorporated into the residential refrigerator. Comparable performance was achieved in a 60% smaller volume package. The improved modeling parameters can now be used to guide more optimized designs and more accurately predict performance.