Design Considerations for an Integral-Receiver Dryer Condenser

An Integral Receiver-Dryer Condenser (IRDC) is one amongst the many recent developments in the field of automotive air-conditioning system. With proper design, these condensers facilitate an increase in the A/C system performance with reduced packaging space and refrigerant charge. The performance of these condensers depends on different parameters like the charge quantity, size of the receiver, subcooling area, pass structure, position of the receiver with respect to the condenser passes and liquid-vapor separation in the receiver. If these parameters are not taken into consideration in the design of an IRDC, the condenser may not give the desired cooling performance, which in turn will affect air-conditioning system performance. We discuss these parameters in detail and their effect on the performance of an IRDC in an A/C system.