This article reports on the development of a mathematical model for a finned tube condenser, whichis a part of the heat exchanger in a heat-pump tumble dryer. The purpose of this model was todetermine the number of tube rows with respect to the minimal mass and volume of the condenser,while maintaining the energy efficiency. The analysis was based on the Ɛ-NTU method, which wasfurther evaluated by the experimental data obtained from measurements performed on a commercialheat-pump tumble dryer. The model can be broadly used for different geometries, refrigerants andair velocities to evaluate the condenser’s performance. The numerical results show good agreementwith the experimental data; the difference between the predicted and measured outlet airtemperatures being less than 4.5%. According to the numerical results, a new condenser, with a28.5% reduction in the initial size, was designed and tested.
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