Heat Exchangers

RACHP-Lab is capable of modeling different types of heat exchangers with a high level of fidelity and accuracy. This includes fin-tube, micro-channel, and tube-in-tube heat exchangers, which are the most commonly used heat exchanger types in the HVAC&R industry. Both geometric and physical properties of the heat exchanger are taken into account to achieve high-accuracy modeling. Validation over many cases with different types of heat exchangers has been performed and showed agreement between the experimental and the simulation results of RACHP-Lab.

Additionally, RACHP-Lab is equipped with a smart algorithm, which selects the suitable heat transfer and pressure drop correlation based on the correlation validity ranges, type of the fluid, state of the fluid, and geometric properties of the flow area. This enhances the ability of RACHP-Lab to extend the simulation capabilities to new refrigerants and fluids that were not originally used in the correlation through normalization of the physical properties of the new refrigerant.

Compressors

RACHP-Lab incorporates different models for compressors to be able to simulate the performance of the compressor based on the available information about the compressor. Performance maps can be utilized to model the performance of the compressor to the highest level of accuracy and anticipate an actual performance of the compressor in terms of capacity and electric power. Additionally, the AHRI 540 standard 10-coefficient model can be also used in RACHP-Lab to model the performance of the compressor with minimal inputs required from the user. Finally, a simple model using compressor efficiencies can be used to model the typical behavior of a compressor, which can be handy in the case of dealing with new refrigerants with current experimental data available.

Also, RACHP-Lab is equipped with a built-in compressor database for major OEMs in the HVAC&R industry, that can be directly imported into a working cycle for assessment of performance.

Expansion Devices

RACHP-Lab can model a thermal expansion device with a specified superheat at either the evaporator exit or compressor inlet. Additionally, RACHP-Lab is capable of modeling the performance of a capillary tube incorporated inside a working cycle and anticipating the resulting superheat from the cycle.

Connecting Lines

RACHP-Lab can simulate the effect of connecting lines between the cycle’s main components, including heat transfer, pressure drop, and charge. This facilitates studying the impact of changing the sizing and length of connecting lines on the performance of the cycle.

Cycle Solvers

RACHP-Lab is equipped with several solvers that offer a trade-off between speed and stability. RACHP-Lab is also equipped with a smart algorithm that can select the suitable solver for the cycle that can reach a complete simulation of the cycle and expect its performance.

Suction-Liquid Heat Exchanger

Suction-Liquid heat exchangers are usually used to increase the cycle capacity and guarantee a sufficient degree of superheat at the compressor inlet. RACHP-Lab can model suction-liquid heat exchanger with high degree of accuracy and detail.

Detailed Results

RACHP-Lab offers detailed cycle results with all performance data such as capacity, power, COP, pressure drop, and saturation temperatures. Additionally, RACHP-Lab offers detailed results for each component present in the cycle with inlet and outlet conditions for all fluid streams (refrigerant and secondary fluid), along with performance assessment characteristics. The detailed results can be exported to an excel file for further analysis and assessment.

Furthermore, RACHP-Lab is equipped with a user-friendly visualization of the results of the simulation, which enable accelerates the analysis of the results with fast comprehension of the performance.

Customized Version also offers the ability to generate word reports from a defined template, populated with the simulation results, which facilitates the incorporation of RACHP-Lab into the R&D process of the entity, and helps standardize the form of results from the simulation with a focus on the important results to the entity.

Unit System

RACHP-Lab is equipped with a unit system management that is convenient for both English and SI units.

Cost Analysis

RACHP-Lab includes a full cost analysis feature where the cost of each component is considered to evaluate the total cost of the system. This feature allows the optimization of the parameters of each component to optimize for cost.

Parametric Study

RACHP-lab can perform a parametric study on any design variable of any component with parallel processing capability. This accelerates the design process of the cycle and offers large variability of the design parameters that can be changed simultaneously.

Optimization Study

RACHP-Lab incorporates a wide optimization capability for any design parameter inside the cycle. This includes all the cycle parameters along with the parameters of any component in the cycle.

Calibration

Calibration of the model to experimental data is made easier with RACHPP-Lab. All you will need is to enter the experimental data points, and RACHP-Lab will perform an optimization study on the main cycle assumptions to achieve validation against the experimental data. This allows for automatic calibration without the complexity of tuning the model parameters to achieve confirmation with the experimental data.

Component Simulation

With RACHP-Lab, you have the ability to simulate a single component individually, with a defined inlet state for the refrigerant and secondary fluid. This helps optimize the design of a single component apart from the performance inside the cycle. With feature, you can also simulate the performance of fan-coil units.

Capillary Sizing Tool

With the capillary sizing tool, you can size the capillary tube for a vapor compression cycle design, using the rated performance and the refrigerant. This can provide a good estimate of the capillary length that should be used within the cycle.