Abstract
The air-side particulate fouling in the heat exchangers of HVAC applications degrades the performance of cooling capacity, pressure drop across a heat exchanger, and indoor air quality. Indoor and outdoor air contaminants foul heat exchangers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of the air-side particulate fouling materials in finned-tube heat exchangers of air conditioners. Air conditioners being used in the field such as inns, restaurants, and offices are collected in chronological order in use. Typical fouling materials on the heat exchangers include fibers and dusts ranged from 6.6 to 20.9 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in mass median diameter.