DENSO develops smaller and more efficient condenser

DENSO has developed a smaller and more efficient condenser, which helps increase fuel efficiency, while allowing carmakers to have greater design flexibility inside the engine compartment. Compared to conventional models, DENSO's new Global Inner-fin Condenser (GIC) is 30 percent smaller.

By exchanging heat with air, the condenser cools the high-pressure refrigerant vapour and condenses it into a liquid refrigerant.

Akio Shikamura, Senior Executive Director of DENSO's Thermal Systems Business Group, said, "To condense the vapour into a liquid refrigerant, the condenser must first remove the heat. Increasing the efficiency of the condenser's heat removal process is one way to improve the overall efficiency of the air-conditioning system, which improves vehicle fuel economy, and helps cool the cabin more quickly."

As car makers worldwide are looking for increased fuel efficiency and more under-the-hood design flexibility, DENSO focused on developing a high-performance condenser that was more efficient, but also smaller than previous generations. To achieve the increase in efficiency, DENSO focused on increasing the heat removal performance of GIC, which is dependent upon the design of the components like tubes and fins.

DENSO further improved the GIC's heat removal process by increasing the number of louvers in each fin by 30 percent per unit area. Despite this increase in louvers, the size of the fin was not increased. Combined, these innovations resulted in reducing the GIC product width from 16 mm to 11mm, which is a 30 percent reduction in size from conventional models.

The GIC is on the Toyota Corolla, which was launched in Japan on May 11. DENSO will continue its efforts to expand GIC to a much wider range of vehicles, as well as work to develop smaller, more efficient products.

DENSO Corporation, headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electric, electronics and information and safety. Its customers include all the world's major carmakers.

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