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International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration

World Scientific Publishing Company

Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air

conditioning systems

Mridul Sarkar
Integrated Environmental Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.
Pune-411021, India.
mridul.sarkar@iesve.com; mridul.rns@gmail.com

Warp around heat pipes (WAHP) belong to a special class of recuperative heat exchangers that transfer
heat from inlet to outlet locations via thermal gradient, without using any energy. In the present work,
effects of various mechanical parameters on the performance of a WAHP dehumidifier system that are
based on the underlying principles of heat and mass conservation are presented primarily from a
theoretical point of view. A simplified methodology pertaining to wet cooling coils is applied here for
defining the case of moisture condensation during precooling process at WAHP evaporator. Inlet air
temperature, inlet humidity ratio, air mass flow rate, dehumidifier outlet temperature and effectiveness
are the main operational parameters considered in this study. On the other hand, comparative
performance study of the WAHP system is done through other set of thermodynamic parameters like
the supply air temperature, supply humidity ratio, specific coil load and recovered enthalpy. The subtle
variations in these factors against the operational parameters not only help in stipulating functional
characteristics of the WAHP, but also allow HVAC designers to make informed decisions for system
design and performance without relying entirely on manufacturer’s equipment data.

Keywords: Wrap-around heat pipe (WAHP), dehumidification, humidity, coil load, recovered
enthalpy, effectiveness

1. Introduction higher than many conductors of comparable

dimensions4-5.
Due to global rise in energy prices and demand, it
Performance investigations of heat pipe heat
becomes very important that the energy sources be used
exchangers (HPHX) and WAHP applied in HVAC
and managed in an efficient and prudent way. Almost,
systems for heat recovery are important topics of
10-30% of annual energy consumption in building
research. El-Baky et al. performed experimental
sector is due to air conditioning equipment1. In recent
investigation6 on the effect of return to fresh air mass
years, serious strides are taken in the field of energy
flow ratios and fresh air temperatures on the
recovery for cooling and dehumidification applications,
effectiveness of HPHX system. Experimental study on
which is a major requirement from HVAC systems
a 2-Row copper HPHX7 charged with R-134a
particularly for hot, humid and temperate climates. The
refrigerant by Yau et al. is aimed towards the
usage of heat pipes in air conditioning equipment for
investigation of the influence of evaporator inlet
air-to-air heat recovery and efficient dehumidification
temperatures and face velocity on heat pipe
is becoming more popular in recent time due to its ease
performance. From the results, they concluded that the
of integration, less maintenance and no supplementary
sensible effectiveness of HPHX actually decreased as
energy requirement for operation2-3. In fact, thermal
the evaporator face velocity is increased. However, in
conductivity of heat pipes is reported to be several times
the temperature range considered for the study, the
sensible effectiveness stayed almost constant. Noie-
1
2 Mridul Sarkar
Baghban et al. presented theoretical and experimental
investigations of a methanol-based HPHX system8 for
hospital surgery rooms. Yau showed the impact of heat
pipes on the energy efficiency of dehumidification
systems9 through transient simulation model of an
HVAC system installed with two 8-row HPHX for an
operating theater in tropical climate of Malaysia.
Ahmadzadehtalatapeh investigated the performance of
an air conditioning system with a HPHX10 and verified
that it met the comfort criteria recommended by
ASHRAE through TRNSYS simulation.
Experimental study of an air handling unit with 7-
looed WAHP11 by Jouhara et al. is aimed towards the
investigation of the effect of heat loads and face
velocities on the overall resistance of the heat pipe
loops. They also concluded that the overall
effectiveness of WAHP decreases as the face velocity
increases. Ezzuddin et al. presented an experimental
investigation of WAHP charged with R-134a
refrigerant12 and two-pass evaporator and condenser
sections to characterize the thermal performance of the
system in terms of overall thermal resistance.
Fig. 1. Schematic of heat pipe systems used in HVAC: (a) Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP), (b) Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger (HPHX).
Many researchers have also evaluated the economic
potential of heat pipes for building air conditioning.
Jouhara conducted a detailed study on the energy
performance13 of WAHP and reported an annual saving
of 134 MWh for a ventilation system supplying 3m3/s
of outdoor air. Zhang et al. presented simulation
results14 showing the energy conservation potential of
heat pipes for dedicated outdoor air handling units
serving office buildings in Hong Kong.
From the literature review, it is quite evident that
the application of heat pipes for air conditioning and
building HVAC services is an active area of research
and development. Despite all of these, lack of
simplified methodologies for analyzing the
performance of heat pipes forces designers and
engineers to depend on various manufacturer selection
software and catalogs. The present work is aimed
towards bridging this knowledge gap. The primary two-
fold objective of the present work is outlined as follows:
• Establishing basic formulations for defining
psychrometric process through a WAHP enhanced
 Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air conditioning systems 3

dehumidifier system, including the limiting case of

moisture condensation during precooling. t4  t3
• Depicting theoretical variation of characteristic WAHP  (1)
parameters of a WAHP against the operating t1  t3
parameters like inlet air temperature, inlet humidity
ratio, dehumidifier coil outlet temperature, air mass Energy balance across the evaporator and condenser in
flow rate and WAHP effectiveness. terms of air enthalpy is expressed as:
2. Basic Heat Pipe systems
A heat pipe system does not utilize any mechanical
m  q1  q2   m  q4  q3  (2)
component or consume electricity to transfer energy
from one point to another. Heat pipes used for air
conditioning applications are closed loop systems, If recovered heat at the evaporator is entirely sensible,
where a difference in density and temperature between then the effectiveness is also defined by:
the two phases of refrigerant fluid drives its movement
inside the tubes and creates a pulsating effect. The t1  t2
working fluid evaporates by absorbing heat at one point WAHP  (3)
and rejects heat at the other by condensing back to t1  t3
liquid as per Ref.2. Figure 1 shows the two basic
configurations of heat pipes used prevalently in air which gives:
conditioning systems. In wrap-around heat pipe
(WAHP) system, front and rear sides of the
dehumidifier coil are covered by the evaporator and t2  t1  WAHP   t1  t3  (4)
condenser sections, respectively. The evaporator
section precools the incoming air before the The evaporator exit temperature from Eq. (4) is
dehumidifier coil cools it further. The cooled and compared with the dew point temperature (DPT) at inlet
dehumidified air is subsequently reheated as it passes (point 1) to check whether condensation occurs at the
through the condenser section and supplied to the space. evaporator. The DPT can be expressed in terms of
In heat pipe heat exchanger (HPHX) system, the supply humidity ratio and absolute pressure as per Ref.15:
and exhaust streams pass through the evaporator and
condenser sections, respectively, which allows air-to-   B  kT0    B  kT0 2  4 A  AT0 2  BT0 
air heat recovery between the two streams. The tadp   T0
2A
connecting tubes enable transport of the refrigerant
(5)
fluid between the evaporator and condenser sections of
the heat pipe system during the whole cycle. The
Where,
operating temperature range of WAHP and HPHX for
air conditioning systems depends upon the required  C plv 
A   
supply conditions for intended space application and  2R 
refrigerant used in heat pipes. Literature sources [Ref. P    
6, 8] suggest 15-550C to be appropriate temperature k  ln  t   ln  
 P0    
range for heat pipes in air conditioning applications.
l0  C plvT0
B
3. Basic underlying equations R

The sensible effectiveness of WAHP from fig.1 is Based on the comparison between evaporator exit
given by: temperature and the inlet dew point temperature, two
4 Mridul Sarkar
different cases can be shown as per the proceeding
subsections.
3.1.1. Case 1: No condensation
If the temperature at evaporator exit (t2) is greater
than or equal to the inlet DPT, moisture condensation
does not occur at the evaporator and unsaturated air
passes through the coil. So in case 1:
t2  DPT1
In this case, the absolute humidity at point 2 will be:
2  1
On a psychrometric chart, the cooling-dehumidification
process through the coil can be simply depicted by a
straight line from the coil inlet to outlet conditions that
intersects the saturation curve at coil ADP (apparatus
dew point) on extending further16. In terms of the ADP
and coil bypass factor (BF), coil outlet temperature is:
t3  tadp  1  BF   t2  BF
Similarly the absolute humidity ratio at coil exit is:
3  adp  1  BF   1  BF
Since, ADP condition corresponds to the lowest
saturation limit of air passing through the coil, the vapor
pressure at this temperature (tadp) is determined from
the modified Clausius-Clapeyron equation17-18 as:
  C plv  
 
 
 adp  R  
T
PTadp  P0    
  T0   (10)
 
 l0  C plv  T0   1 1 
exp   
 R   T0 Tadp 
The unit for temperature in Eq. (10) is Kelvin. Hence,
here ‘T’ implies T0+t. The saturation humidity ratio
corresponding to this temperature is given by:
  PTadp
adp  (11)
Pt  PTadp
Humidity ratio at the coil exit is obtained by
substituting the value of ωadp into Eq. (9). It should be
(6)
noted that the relative humidity of air at coil exit can not
exceed 100%. If air reaches the saturation condition in-
between coil inlet and exit temperatures, it follows the
100% RH curve on a psychrometric chart for rest of the
(7)
process. In that case, ω3 will be simply equal to
saturation humidity ratio corresponding to the coil exit
temperature. Since, heat addition to the air stream at
condenser is entirely sensible, humidity ratio remains
unchanged after leaving the condenser:
4  3
However, due to an increase in temperature through the
(8)
condenser, relative humidity of the supply air reduces.
The condenser exit (supply) temperature is obtained by:
t4  t3  WAHP   t1  t3  (12)
(9)
3.1.2. Case 2: With Condensation
If the evaporator exit temperature calculated from
Eq. (4) is lower than the inlet DPT, condensation of
water vapor occurs during precooling. Since heat
absorbed at the evaporator is not entirely sensible in this
case, the effectiveness given by Eq. (3) is not valid.
From conservation of energy, heat released at the
condenser section is expressed in terms of air enthalpy
difference by:

Qc  ma  q4  q3  (13)
 Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air conditioning systems 5

Since, humidity ratio at the condenser inlet and exit are
unknown and heat transfer to air at condenser side is
entirely sensible, Eq. (13) can be written as:
(14)
Qc  ma  c pm   t4  t3 
inside has almost a uniform temperature throughout its
length and its overall thermal resistance is due to
external fluid flow at the evaporator and condenser
sections3, 5. In terms of NTU on evaporator side, the
overall NTU of WAHP module is give by:

The term cpm is the specific heat of moist air and can be NTU e
NTUWAHP  (19)
approximated within the limits of workable accuracy by 2
a constant value ~ 1.02 kJ/kg-K for a wide range of
humidity ratios encountered in air conditioning From Eq. (17) and (19):
systems. Using Eq. (2), (13) and (14):
2WAHP
q2  q1  c pm   t4  t3  NTU e  (20)
(15) 1  WAHP

where, the inlet enthalpy (q1) is given by: As with cooling coils, bypass factor of the evaporator
section can be similarly defined in terms of NTU as:


q1  c pa  t1  1  l0  c pv  t1  (16)
BFe  exp   NTU e  (21)

The effectiveness of a WAHP with equal flow rates

through its evaporator and condenser sections is written Analogous to cooling coils, enthalpy of wet surface of
in terms of the number of heat transfer units (NTU)19- 20 the evaporator is given by:
as:

NTUWAHP q2  BFe  q1 (22)

WAHP  qe 
1  NTUWAHP (17) 1  BFe

Overall resistance of the WAHP is given in terms of The saturation enthalpy (qe) determined above could
external resistances at the evaporator and condenser by: also be approximated by a quadratic equation in terms
of the evaporator effective surface temperature (te)
reported in literature as per Ref. 21-22 as:
1
 Re  Rc  2 Re (18)
UAWAHP qe  a  te 2  b  te  c (23)

The above equation is based on the assumption that the Typical values of the coefficients a, b, and c for wet
heat pipe has infinite thermal mass because the vapor coils at different barometric pressures by considering a

Table 1 Regression coefficients of saturation enthalpy function

Coefficients of trend line function:

Coefficient of
Pt (kPa) qe  a  te 2  b  te  c
determination (R2)
a b c
108.386 0.0774 0.1988 19.484 0.9998
106 0.0793 0.1797 19.895 0.9998
101.325 0.0838 0.1036 21.24 0.9998
100 0.0849 0.1004 21.383 0.9998
99 0.0859 0.0838 21.677 0.9998
6 Mridul Sarkar
saturation temperature band of 4-25oC is shown in Ref.
21. The same theory can be applied here for wet
evaporator surface of the heat pipe. However, taking the
operational parameters of the WAHP into account,
these regression coefficients are modified for a
relatively wider dew point band of 10-35oC. Table 1
shows typical values of the coefficients at different
atmospheric pressures encountered in air conditioning
problems. The logical solution of Eq. (23) is given by:
b  b2  4  a  (c  qe )
te 
2a
By determining qe from Eq. (15), (16) and (22) and
substituting into Eq. (24), the value of te is obtained.
Temperature of air at the evaporator exit is given by:
t2  BFe  t1  (1  BFe )  te
and the corresponding humidity ratio is:
2  BFe  1  1  BFe   e
Fig. 2. Parametric variation with evaporator inlet temperatures at coil outlet temperature: 12oC, coil bypass factor: 0.1, inlet humidity ratio:
0.018 kg/kg-DA of: (a) WAHP exit humidity ratio, (b) WAHP exit temperature, (c) Recovered enthalpy, (d) Coil load.
The humidity ratio (ωe) at the evaporator surface is
determined by replacing Tadp with Te in Eq. (10) and
(11). From above, it is clear that moisture condensation
occurs during precooling if effective temperature of the
evaporator is lower than the DPT of air at WAHP inlet.
The psychrometric condition at evaporator exit is
determined by applying Eq. (25) and (26), which
require evaporator BF and saturated conditions
corresponding to the effective evaporator surface
temperature. This is analogous to the methodology for
(24)
determining exit conditions through a cooling coil using
the coil BF and ADP conditions.
Now air that enters the dehumidifier coil is at near
saturated condition (t2 and ω2). Similar to case 1, air will
exit the coil (required coil outlet temperature t3 and
corresponding humidity ω3) at saturated state, if the line
that is joining coil inlet and coil ADP conditions
intersects the 100% RH curve (saturation) in between.
(25)
Eq. (27) and (28), given below shows the saturation
vapor pressure and relative humidity (RH)
corresponding to the coil exit temperature (t3),
respectively:
(26)
 Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air conditioning systems 7

Fig. 3. Psychrometric plots at different inlet temperatures - (a) Evaporator inlet temperature: 41oC, inlet humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA,
dehumidifier coil outlet temperature: 12oC, coil BF: 0.1, sensible effectiveness of WAHP: 0.4. (b) Evaporator inlet temperature: 29oC,
inlet humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA, dehumidifier coil outlet temperature: 12oC, coil BF: 0.1, sensible effectiveness of WAHP: 0.4.

with each of the operating parameters while holding all

the remaining parameters constant.
  C plv  
 
 T3   R   4.1. Inlet temperature
PT  P0    
 T0 
3
 Inlet air temperature affects the supply condition,
  (27)
coil load and recovered heat through a WAHP system.
 l0  C plv  T0   1 1  For a WAHP operating at a particular effectiveness,
exp      
 R   T0 T3  increasing the evaporator inlet temperature leads to an
increase in the coil inlet temperature. Due to this, a
3  Pt lower coil ADP is required for cooling and
RH 3   100%
PT    3 
(28)
3 dehumidifying air to a fixed coil outlet temperature
thereby increasing the dehumidifier coil load and may
The RH from Eq. (28) will be equal to 100% in case result in reduction of supply humidity ratio, when air
condensation occurs during precooling. exiting the dehumidifier is not 100% saturated.
Although, the recovered energy increases with an
4. Parametric variation
increase in inlet temperature through the evaporator, it
This section presents a comparative performance leads to reheating of air to a higher temperature through
study of WAHP based dehumidifier systems by the condenser. With WAHP operating at higher
defining the effects of various operating parameters on effectiveness, the precooling and reheating can be
key performance parameters like WAHP supply increased through the evaporator and condenser,
humidity, supply temperature, recovered enthalpy and respectively at a fixed inlet condition and coil outlet
dehumidifier coil load. The proceeding subsections temperature. This leads to an increase in recovered
depict the variation in these performance parameters energy and supply temperature, but reduces the net
dehumidifier coil load. It should be noted that moisture
8 Mridul Sarkar
condensation occurs at the evaporator, if difference
between the inlet air DBT and effective evaporator
temperature exceeds the entering air dew point
depression (DPD). Now this scenario arises either when
the effectiveness of WAHP is higher, which enables the
evaporator to precool air below its DPT or when the air
temperature entering the WAHP itself is lower, which
results in comparatively lower DPD. Figure 2 shows
variations of thermodynamic parameters of the WAHP
system with the evaporator inlet temperatures at varying
sensible effectiveness and typical psychrometric
processes through a WAHP system at different inlet
temperatures are depicted in Figure 3.
4.2. Inlet humidity ratio
Contrary to inlet temperature, an increase in inlet
humidity ratio does not affect the condenser outlet
temperature or recovered heat as long as dehumidifier
coil has enough capacity to cool and dehumidify air up
to the required level. However, both the condenser
outlet temperature and recovered heat will increase with
the operating effectiveness of WAHP. As the humidity
ratio rises, DPT also increases. This leads to a sharp
decrement in the DPD. As the DPD reduces, the net
sensible load ratio (SLR) of the coil also decreases. As
a result, dehumidification efficiency of the
dehumidifier coil increases. Water vapor in moist air
Fig. 4. Parametric variation with inlet humidity ratios at coil outlet temperature: 12oC, coil bypass factor: 0.1, evaporator inlet
temperature: 35oC of: (a) WAHP exit humidity ratio, (b) WAHP exit temperature, (c) Recovered enthalpy, (d) Coil load.
will condense off at the evaporator, if its effective
temperature is low enough to precool the air below its
inlet DPT. With an increment in the inlet humidity ratio,
the supply DPT also increases until further reduction in
DPD causes moisture condensation during precooling
and fully saturated air exits the dehumidifier coil.
Beyond this point, a further increase in inlet humidity
ratio does not change the supply humidity ratio and
remains constant at the saturated humidity ratio
corresponding to the coil outlet temperature. For a fixed
coil outlet temperature, increasing the inlet humidity
ratio directly affects the net coil load. In this case,
predominant portion of the coil load will be the latent
part. Due to elevated air moisture content entering the
dehumidifier, net coil load increases and more energy is
expended for dehumidification. However, operating a
WAHP at a higher effectiveness results in greater
temperature differential across the evaporator thereby
reducing net coil loads. Figure 4 shows the variation of
different parameters of a WAHP system with inlet
humidity ratios and Figure 5 depicts psychrometric
plots at different inlet humidity ratios.
4.3. Coil outlet temperature
DPT of the supply air through a wrap-around
dehumidifier heat pipe can be controlled by modulating
the coil outlet temperature. This is done by either
 Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air conditioning systems 9

Fig. 5. Psychrometric plots at different inlet humidity ratios - (a) Evaporator inlet temperature: 35oC, inlet humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA,
dehumidifier coil outlet temperature: 12oC, coil BF: 0.1, sensible effectiveness of WAHP: 0.4. (b) Evaporator inlet temperature: 35oC, inlet
humidity ratio: 0.012 kg/kg-DA, dehumidifier coil outlet temperature: 12oC, coil BF: 0.1, sensible effectiveness of WAHP: 0.4.

controlling the opening and closing of chilled water

valve to vary the water flow rate through the coil or
bypassing air around the coil by using face and bypass
dampers (FBD). At fixed inlet humidity ratio and
temperature, air exits the condenser at a slightly
elevated temperature on increasing the coil outlet
temperature. This results in marginal reduction of
recovered heat, since the maximum theoretical heat
transfer reduces with an increase in coil outlet
temperature. However, to achieve a lower coil outlet
temperature, the coil ADP needs to be reduced that not
only increases the latent load ratio and net coil load, but
also results in reduction of supply humidity ratio. In
addition to this, increased dehumidification load at a
lower coil outlet temperature leads to saturation of air
leaving the coil. Operating a WAHP at a higher
4.4. Air mass flow rate
Air mass flow rates drastically affect the
performance of heat pipes. The face velocity through a
WAHP dehumidifier increases as the airflow rate is
increased. Due to this, higher fraction of air bypasses
the WAHP and dehumidifier coil leading to reduction
in the contact time with heat pipe and coil surfaces.
Hence, as airflow rate is increased, sensible
effectiveness of the WAHP and contact factor (1 - BF)
of the dehumidifier coil decreases. The effectiveness of
a WAHP at any airflow rate in terms of a reference
airflow rate and effectiveness is given by:
x  WAHP
WAHP  r ef

effectiveness leads to increased precooling and 1   x  1  WAHP

r ef
reheating through evaporator and condenser. As a
result, recovered enthalpy and condenser exit Where, x is expressed in terms of the ratio of air mass
temperature increases, but reduction in dehumidifier flow rate to the reference air mass flow rate as:
coil load is observed. Figure 6 and 7 shows the
parametric variation and psychrometric plots at 0.534
different coil outlet temperatures, respectively.  m 
x a 
 ma 
 ref 
 10 Mridul Sarkar

Fig. 6. Parametric variation with coil outlet temperatures at evaporator inlet temperature: 35oC, inlet humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA, coil
bypass factor: 0.1 of (a) WAHP exit humidity ratio, (b) WAHP exit temperature, (c) Recovered enthalpy, (d) Coil load.

A detailed derivation of the correlations for sensible
effectiveness of WAHP and HPHX in terms of the
reference effectiveness and corresponding airflow rates
are presented in Appendix A and B, respectively. With
respect to the reference airflow rate, the effectiveness of
a WAHP decreases as the airflow ratio exceeds 1 and
vice-versa. Due to this, higher energy recovery and
higher condenser outlet temperature are expected by a
WAHP operated at a higher effectiveness or reduced
airflow rate. As airflow rate increases, distribution
energy from fans also increases due to an increase in
pressure drop through the WAHP dehumidifier unit,
which indirectly affects dehumidifier coil loads.
However, in this paper only the explicit effect of air
flow rate on the coil bypass factor and WAHP
effectiveness are considered. The pressure drop across

Fig. 7. Psychrometric plots at different coil outlet temperatures - (a) Evaporator inlet temperature: 35oC, inlet humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA,
dehumidifier coil outlet temperature: 12oC, coil BF: 0.1, sensible effectiveness of WAHP: 0.4. (b) Evaporator inlet temperature: 35oC, inlet
humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA, dehumidifier coil outlet temperature: 11oC, coil BF: 0.1, sensible effectiveness of WAHP: 0.4.
 Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air conditioning systems 11

a WAHP module depends primarily on its geometrical
configuration (fin dimensions, number of heat pipe
rows, tube diameter and fin spacing) and flow rate of air
stream passing through it [Ref. 4].
As per literature study [Ref. 21, 23] the bypass
factor of a coil can be expressed entirely as a function
of air mass flow rate by:
 X 
BF  exp   0 
 ma 
The term X0 shown in Eq. (29) above is derived from a
reference air mass flow rate and the coil bypass factor
corresponding to this reference air mass flow rate. For
a given configuration, the coil BF increases with an
increment in the face velocity and must be operated at a
lower ADP to supply at the required DPT. As a result,
the specific coil load actually increases with an increase
in air mass flow rate. As the ADP or effective
temperature of the coil is reduced, air gradually moves
towards the saturated condition during the cooling-
dehumidification process and exits the coil at 100% RH.
On the other hand, as heat recovery increases with a
reduction in airflow ratio, more precooling occurs at the
evaporator that reduces air DPD. This allows it to reach
the saturated condition even at a relatively higher coil
ADP. Based on the above arguments, the variations in
the thermodynamic parameters of a WAHP with air
mass flow rate ratios are shown in Figure 8. Typical
psychrometric plots of the processes through a WAHP
enhanced dehumidifier at a reference airflow rate and at
reduced airflow rate is depicted in Figure 9.
5. Conclusions
The present work showed the variation of
(29) characteristic factors of a WAHP enhanced
dehumidifier system with operational parameters. Basic
mathematical formulations are derived here for
theoretically deducing the operational characteristics of
WAHP system including the limiting case of moisture
condensation at the evaporator. The operating
effectiveness of a WAHP system played a pivotal role
in the variation of system supply temperature,
recovered enthalpy and dehumidifier coil load. Even
though, a fixed effectiveness is assumed while deriving
the variation of characteristic parameters with operating
parameters, this operating effectiveness is shown to be
inversely correlated with external air flow rates at the
condenser and evaporator sections. Based on the
variation trends in supply conditions, coil load and
recovered energy by applying these formulations, it can
be concluded that the specific dehumidifier coil load is
directly dependent on the inlet air temperature, inlet
humidity ratio and air mass flow rate and tends to
increase with an increment in each of these operating

Fig. 8. Parametric variation with air mass flow rate ratio at evaporator inlet temperature: 35oC, inlet humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA, reference
coil bypass factor: 0.1, dehumidifier coil outlet temperature: 12oC. of: (a) WAHP exit humidity ratio, (b) WAHP exit temperature, (c)
Recovered enthalpy, (d) Coil load.
 12 Mridul Sarkar

parameters. However, the same coil specific load
showed a decreasing trend with an increase in coil outlet
temperature and operating effectiveness of WAHP. The
WAHP supply temperature and recovered enthalpy,
increased as the WAHP is operated at a higher
effectiveness. The supply temperature also showed
considerable increment as inlet air temperature is
increased. The inlet humidity ratio does not affect the
recovered enthalpy or supply temperature, but directly
influenced the net coil load. The supply DPT and
humidity ratio depended explicitly on the required coil
outlet temperature, inlet dew point depression (DPD)
and coil ADP, but indirectly affected by the WAHP
effectiveness and coil bypass factor during operation. If
condensation occurs during precooling, the supply DPT
will be equal to the coil outlet temperature. These
simple conclusions aided in defining the performance
characteristics of the WAHP system in terms of each
operational parameter in consideration and allowed
making informed decision regarding system design and
control.
Appendix A. WAHP effectiveness in terms of
reference effectiveness and mass
flow ratio
Sensible effectiveness is identified as the main
characteristics to define the performance of heat pipes.
Researchers have assumed infinite thermal mass for a
heat pipe because the vapor inside it has almost a
uniform temperature throughout its length3. Hence, the
effectiveness of heat pipes prominently depends upon
the external flow conditions that affect the transport of
heat in and out of evaporator and condenser sections,
respectively5,11. So, in this paper, the overall heat
transfer efficiency of heat pipe is assumed to vary only
with external airflow rates, without considering the
influence of other thermodynamic parameters like heat
load and operating temperature.
Several assumptions are made here to simplify the
methodology of deriving theoretical correlation for
sensible effectiveness at any airflow rate in terms of the
reference effectiveness and corresponding airflow rate
ratio:

Fig. 9. Psychrometric plots at different air mass flow rate ratio - (a) Evaporator inlet temperature: 35oC, inlet humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA,
dehumidifier coil outlet temperature: 12oC, reference coil BF: 0.1, reference sensible effectiveness of WAHP: 0.4, air mass flow rate to
reference air mass flow rate ratio: 1, (b) Evaporator inlet temperature: 35oC, inlet humidity ratio: 0.018 kg/kg-DA, dehumidifier coil outlet
temperature: 12oC, reference coil BF: 0.1, reference sensible effectiveness of WAHP: 0.4, air mass flow rate to reference air mass flow rate
ratio: 0.6.
 Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air conditioning systems 13

• Steady state analysis. 1

• Density and heat transfer coefficient of air are  Re  Rc  2 Rc (A-3)
UAWAHP
assumed to be constant throughout the process.
• Thermal resistances of the heat pipe tube and wick
are neglected. Fouling resistance is also neglected. The resistance at condenser side in terms of
• Internal resistance due to pulsating flow of corresponding NTU is given by:
refrigerant is considerably lower than the external
resistance and hence neglected here.
1 (A-4)
• The fins are assumed to be 100% efficient. The face Rc 
NTU c  Cmin
velocities over evaporator and condenser are
determined by the fin height and width.
• Geometrical configurations of evaporator and Overall NTU of the WAHP is written in terms of the
condenser sections are assumed to be identical. condenser side NTU as:
• The analysis is simplified by considering the
condenser and evaporator sections as single circular NTU c (A-5)
NTUWAHP 
tubes. 2
The whole procedure can be simplified and
categorized into following steps: b) Expressing the heat transfer coefficient as a function
of flow rate for WAHP:
a) Simplifying the external resistance by heat- The Nusselt number for flows over circular tubes as per
exchanger ε-NTU relation: Hilpert correlation19 is given by:
For a heat exchanger with equal mass flow rates at the
hot and cold ends, the net effectiveness in terms of NTU hc D
Nuc   a  Rec m  Pr 0.33 (A-6)
is shown in section 3.1 as: kf

NTUWAHP For typical heat pipes, the hydraulic diameter of the

WAHP  exposed tube does not exceed 0.5 inch and the face
1  NTUWAHP
velocities prescribed by manufacturers for enhanced
dehumidification does not exceed 500 fpm24. In this
The number of heat transfer units (NTU) for the heat range, the external Reynold’s number remains below
pipe shown in the equation above is given by: 4000, for which, m and a takes the value 0.466 and
0.683, respectively19. Hence, for flow around heat pipe
tubes:
UAWAHP
NTUWAHP  (A-1)
hc  ma 0.466
(A-7)
Cmin

Where, c) Expressing the ratio of NTU as a function of airflow

rate ratio:
In terms of the reference airflow rate, the ratio of heat
Cmin  Ce  Cc (A-2) transfer coefficients can be written as:

0.466
The overall thermal resistance of WAHP is given hc  m 
 a  (A-8)
by:
hc  ma 
ref  ref 
14 Mridul Sarkar

Similarly in terms of the overall thermal conductance effectiveness and manufacturer’s documented
from ε-NTU relation: effectiveness is lower than ±5%.

Appendix B. Effectiveness of HPHX in terms of

NTU c  Cmin h (A-9) the reference effectiveness and
 c
 NTU c  Cmin ref hc ref
mass flow ratios
Unlike WAHP, the airflow rates through the
From Eq. (A-8) and (A-9): condenser and evaporator in a HPHX system vary
freely. Hence, effectiveness of HPHX at any supply
0.466 0.534 flow rate not only depends on the supply flow rate but
NTU c  m   maref   m 
 a    a  also on the condenser to evaporator flow rate ratio too.
 NTU c ref  maref 

 ma

  ma
  ref

 (A-10) With all the assumption made earlier, the whole
derivation can be simplified into following steps:

d) Expressing the effectiveness in terms of the reference a) Simplifying the external resistances at the
effectiveness and flow ratio: evaporator and condenser by heat-exchanger ε-NTU
By applying Eq.(A-5) and (A-10): relation:
The effectiveness of HPHX from Fig. 1(b) is given by:
2WAHP  2 
 x   WAHP  (A-11)
Ce T1  T2  C T  T 
1  WAHP  1  WAHP ref  HX   c 4 3 (B-1)
Cmin T1  T3  Cmin T1  T3 

Where, The effectiveness of a counter flow heat exchanger as

reported in literature19-20 is given by:
0.534
 m 
x a 
 ma  1  exp  NTU HX  1  Cr 
 ref   HX  (B-2)
1  Cr  exp  NTU HX  1  Cr 
Hence, the effectiveness of WAHP in terms of its
reference performance can be written as: The net heat capacity ratio Cr in Eq. (B-2) is defined as:

Cmin
Cr  (B-3)
x  WAHP Cmax
WAHP  r ef (A-12)
1   x  1  WAHP
r ef
Defining a new parameter ‘r’ as:

Eq. (A-12) derived above should be applied on a case-

Condenser mass flow rate mc
by-case basis for every unique constructional r  (B-4)
Evaporator mass flow rate me
configuration of WAHP. The accuracy of the derived
equation is tested against the manufacturer’s data
obtained from selection software25 for two different From Eq. (B-3) and (B-4), one can deduce:
WAHP configurations. Figure A1 shows the
comparison of results at mass flow rate ratios over a Cmin  mc  c pa 
  (B-5)
wide range around the reference ratio (equal to 1). The   if mc  me

 Cr  r 

results show that the error between estimated
 Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air conditioning systems 15

Cmin  me  c pa 
  (B-6)
 1  if me  mc
 Cr   and in this case:
 r 

UA HX (B-12)
Considering the first case, when Cr = r, Eq. (B-2) can NTU HX 
Cc
be written as:

1  exp  NTU HX   1  r 
 HX  From Eq. (B-4) and (B-9)-(B-12):
1  r  exp  NTU HX   1  r  (B-7)

1 (B-13)
NTU HX 
which gives:  1 r 
  
 NTU c NTU e 
1  1  r   HX  (B-8)
NTU HX   ln 
1  r   1   HX 
b) Expressing the evaporator to heat pipe NTU ratio as
a function of the condenser to evaporator air mass flow
In terms of the net resistance: ratio:
Since the evaporator and condenser sections are
assumed to have identical geometrical configuration:
1 (B-9)
 Re  Rc
UAHX
0.466
he  me  (B-14)
 
where: hc  mc 

1
Rc  (B-10)
NTU c  Cc The ratio of heat transfer coefficients shown above is
1
due to Eq. (A-7) applicable for external flows over
Re  (B-11) circular tubes of heat pipes.
NTU e  Ce
Hence:

Fig. A-1. Comparison of effectiveness for two different WAHP configurations: (a) Qref = 9.5 m3/s, heat pipe dim.: 6 rows, 10 fpi, 0.5 inch OD,
fin dim. 2540 x 1580 mm2, Refrigerant: R-410a, Evaporator inlet: 42oC, 35% RH, Condenser inlet: 12oC, 95% RH. (b) Qref = 3 m3/s, heat pipe
dim.: 6 rows, 10 fpi, 0.5’ OD, fin dim. 762 x 1260 mm2, Refrigerant: R-410a, Evaporator inlet: 42oC, 35% RH, Condenser inlet: 12oC, 95% RH.
.
16 Mridul Sarkar

0.534 0.534 1  1  r   HX 
NTU e  me  1  ln 
1  r   1   HX 
   (B-15)
 NTU HX
NTU c  mc  r  (B-20)
NTU HX 1  1  rref   HX 
 ln  
ref ref


1  rref 
 1   HX ref



And from Eq. (B-13) and (B-15):

 1  r 0.466  Eliminating the LHS of the above equation by

NTU e (B-16)
  0.534  substituting corresponding variables from Eq. (B-13),
NTU HX  r  (B-15), (B-16) and (B-19), the effectiveness of HPHX
in terms of its reference performance can be written as:
In conclusion, the evaporator to heat pipe NTU ratio is
shown to be a direct function of the condenser to
 
evaporator air mass flow rate ratio.  
 
1 r (B-21)
c) Expressing effectiveness in terms of the reference  HX  1  
 
z 
performance and condenser to evaporator air mass   1  r   HX    r 
flow ratio:   1   HX 
Defining the evaporator to heat pipe NTU ratio as  ref  
parameter ‘γ’, Eq.(B-16) can be rewritten as:
where, the exponent ‘z’ is a function of mass flow ratio
1  r 0.466
and is given by:
 (B-17)
r 0.534

z  x
1  r    ref
At a reference condenser to evaporator flow ratio, 1  r ref 
Eq.(B-17) takes the form as:
Reiterating the steps shown above for the case when
1  rref 0.466 r >1 and:
 ref  (B-18)
rref 0.534
me  mc

As shown earlier in Eq. (A-10) for WAHP, similar

The effectiveness at any supply flow rate can be
expression can be written for evaporator of HPHX as:
expressed in terms of the reference effectiveness as:

0.534
NTU e  m   
 e  x (B-19)
 
NTU e  me   
ref  ref 
  
1 
 1  
 HX  1  r  (B-22)
 
y 
Taking the ratio of heat pipe NTU from Eq. (B-8) into   1   HX   
account, one can write:   r    1
  1   HX   r
   
ref  
  
 Theoretical parametric study of Wrap-Around Heat Pipe (WAHP) in air conditioning systems 17

Fig. B-1. Comparison of effectiveness for HPHX configuration 1: Qe-ref = 9.5 m3/s, rref = 0.999, heat pipe dim: 6 rows, 10 fpi, 0.5 inch OD, fin
dim: 2540 x 1580 mm2, Refrigerant: R-410a, evaporator inlet: 42oC, 35% RH, condenser inlet: 24oC, 50% RH at (a) constant condenser side
airflow rate and variable evaporator side air flow rates, (b) constant evaporator side airflow rate and variable condenser side airflow rates

Fig. B-2. Comparison of effectiveness for HPHX configuration 2: Qe-ref = 3.0 m3/s, rref = 0.999, heat pipe dim: 6 rows, 10 fpi, 0.5 inch OD, fin
dim: 762 x 2025 mm2, Refrigerant: R-410a, evaporator inlet: 42oC, 35% RH, condenser inlet: 24oC, 50% RH at (a) constant condenser side air
flow rate and variable evaporator side airflow rates, (b) constant evaporator side air flow rate and variable condenser side airflow rates

Figures B-1 and B-2 show the comparison of results

from the derived correlation and manufacture’s
Where the exponent ‘y’ is: performance data25 for two different configurations of
HPHX. It should be noted that both Eq. (B-21) and (B-
22) can’t be defined for equal reference flow rates at
 1 condenser and evaporator sections (i.e. flow ratio equal
1  
y  x 
r to 1). Hence, for mathematically approximating the

ref

 1  results, a reference condenser to evaporator flow ratio

1 
 r ref of 0.999 is applied here to derive the sensible
effectiveness at different evaporator and condenser
flow rates. The data are plotted for two different
and evaporator to heat pipe NTU ratio ‘λ’ for this case scenarios: first scenario, where condenser flow rate is
is given by: kept constant and second scenario, where evaporator
flow rate is kept constant. Comparison of results shows
that the error between the two data does not exceed
NTU e ±5%, which affirms the validity of the derived
  1  r 0.466 (B-23)
correlations.
NTU HX
18 Mridul Sarkar

Nomenclature 3 Dehumidifier coil outlet / condenser inlet

4 Condenser outlet
a Of air
Symbols adp Apparatus Dew Point
A Surface area (m2) c At condenser
BF Bypass factor e At evaporator
C Heat capacity rate (kW/K) HX Heat pipe heat exchanger
cpa Specific heat capacity of dry air (1.006 kJ/kg-K) min. Minimum
ref Reference performance
cpm Specific heat capacity of moist air (1.02 kJ/ kg-K)
WAHP Wrap-around heat pipe
cpv Specific heat capacity of vapor (1.86 kJ/kg-K)
D Hydraulic diameter (m)
Acknowledgments
DPT Dew point temperature (oC)
h Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2-K) The author acknowledges no conflict of interest. This
kf Thermal conductivity of fluid (W/m-K) research did not receive any specific grant from funding
l0 Specific latent heat of vaporization of water at 273 agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit
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