One of the strategies that we can use to improve performance is the evaporative condensation, which use is increasing in modern refrigeration systems.

Using this technology, we are able to reduce the condensing temperature.  If the condensation temperature of a refrigerant circuit decreases, the condensation pressure of the refrigerant also decreases.  As a consequence of this, the electrical power of the compressor required decreases, since the pressure difference is smaller in the compressor,  and therefore less power is necessary to achieve that pressure increase.

Evaporative condenser 1

In the case of a real refrigeration system,  as we have previously discussed, the COP or EER performance of a refrigeration system is defined as:

EER = Refrigeration power / Electric power

If the electrical power in the compressor decreases, the performance increases and therefore the energy efficiency of our system will also increase.

To achieve this, a pool of water is located at the bottom of the condenser,  and this water will be pumped to the top. With some sprayers on the top, it is possible to disperse the water into small particles. At the same time, some fans generate a forced air stream that enters through the lower part, in counter-current with the falling drops of dispersed water. This way,  the air gets saturated with water, and consequently, the air temperature will be reduced to the wet bulb temperature.

Evaporative condenser 2
Figure 2.Parts of an evaporative condenser

This way, we can make the external condensation temperature decrease and, as we have explained previously, the temperature and pressure of our refrigerant in the condenser may be lower than without this technology.

Evaporative condenser 3

With this system, it is possible to reduce the condensing temperature down to 10ºC, and an energy reduction of up to 45-50% in some cases.

In the case of making this investment, it is possible to carry out a verification of savings between the previous situation and the current one. For this, it is convenient to have a performance analyzer that can measure the performance with the direct or indirect method, depending on our installation. The PilotE2 HVACR can do these measurements and verification of savings in both refrigeration systems and HVAC systems.