Commercial HVAC System Condenser Header Pipes are divided into inlet headers and outlet headers, widely used in commercial chillers, air-cooled screw/vortex units, air-cooled modules, and VRF multi split outdoor units. They are the collection and distribution pipelines at both ends of the condenser bundle.
1. Uniform distribution of refrigerant (core function)
The high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant is discharged from the compressor and enters the inlet manifold, diverting a large flow of refrigerant to dozens of parallel condensing copper tubes.
Without a header, the refrigerant will only go through the nearest pipeline, with some copper pipes having extremely low flow rates, wasting heat exchange area, significantly reducing condenser efficiency, and high unit pressure.
Air cooled condenser: The fan blows copper pipes, and the high-temperature gas inside the pipes dissipates heat and liquefies; The header ensures that each copper tube has refrigerant involved in heat exchange.
2. Collect the condensed liquid refrigerant
After dissipating heat, the refrigerant inside each copper tube changes from a gaseous state to a high-pressure liquid, which is then collected and flows into the outlet manifold before being transported to the storage tank/expansion valve.
The manifold plays a role in balancing the flow and avoiding gas-liquid mixing and reflux disturbance caused by uneven pressure of various refrigerants.
3. Balance the flow field and stabilize the system pressure
Balance the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of each heat exchange tube bundle;
Weaken the turbulence and impact generated by refrigerant flow, reduce pipeline vibration and noise;
Prevent erosion of copper pipe welds caused by excessive local flow velocity.
4. Can accommodate a small amount of gas-liquid buffer+simple separation
It is difficult to achieve 100% complete condensation inside the condenser. The outlet manifold has a certain volume, which can temporarily buffer the fluid. A small amount of uncondensed gas is not easy to directly enter the liquid pipe, reducing the risk of liquid hammer in the expansion valve (large units will be equipped with a liquid storage device to enhance gas-liquid separation).
5. Process installation function
Unified reserved maintenance ports, sewage ports, filling ports, and pressure sensor interfaces;
Modular manufacturing of tube bundles: Dozens of copper tubes do not need to be connected to external pipelines one by one, and are uniformly welded to the manifold, with a compact structure that facilitates mass production in factories.
