Experimental verification of a condenser with liquid–vapor separation in an air conditioning system

Three liquid–vapor separation condensers (LSC) were tested to evaluate their ability to automatically separate the liquid and vapor during condensation. Each was used in a split-type air conditioner to investigate the performance. The performance of the LSC system having the greatest cooling capacity and energy efficiency ratio (EER) was then compared with that of the system having a baseline fin-and-tube condenser for various ambient temperatures from 29 °C to 43 °C. The results showed that both the cooling capacity and EER of the two systems were almost the same at the three standard conditions in the Chinese standard GB/T 7725-2004, with the LSC having just 67% of the heat transfer area of the baseline condenser. In addition, the LSC system was charged with only 80% of the refrigerant in the baseline system.