Design and analysis of a water cooling system

Abstract

As part of the ME 4860 Senior Design course at the University of New Brunswick, this report provides an overview of the design problem, the design process, and the analysis and optimization work performed to reach a final design. The given problem was to design a water cooling device that would cool tap water from approximately 15 degrees Celsius to a final temperature of 5 degrees Celsius. Many forms of modern cooling technology were analyzed to determine applicability to the design problem with a select few being chosen for further analysis. A feasibility study was then performed on a thermoelectric design and a refrigeration design with the latter being chosen to pursue as the design solution for this project. Next, several mathematical models were developed to accurately describe how the system will react to different input parameters. It was determined that a 186 Watt (1/4 HP) condensing unit would be used to satisfy the 8-hour cooling time of a 350-liter tank of water. A hexagonal tank would be used to simplify construction and allow for the attachment of a detachable evaporator. To accommodate the specific design parameters, a custom designed submersible evaporator was specified to provide the needed heat transfer. Several other components were then chosen based on the required parameters that were calculated and summarized in a bill of materials. Finally, an in-depth analysis and optimization exercise was performed to fine tune the design. Computational fluid dynamic software was used to create a model of the design to confirm the performance of the system.