The numerical simulation of the heat transfer in the flow channels of the minichannel heat exchanger was carried out. The applied model was validated on the experimental stand of an air heat pump. The influence of louver heights was investigated in the range from 0 mm (plain fin) to 7 mm (maximum height). The set of simulations was prepared in Ansys CFX. The research was carried out in a range of air inlet velocities from 1 to 5 m/s. The values of the Reynolds number achieved in the experimental tests ranged from 93 to 486. The dimensionless factors, the Colburn factor and friction factor, were calculated to evaluate heat transfer and pressure loss, respectively. The effectiveness of each louver height was evaluated using the parameter that relates to the heat transfer and the pressure drop in the airflow. The highest value of effectiveness (1.53) was achieved by the louver height of 7 mm for the Reynolds number of around 290.

The paper presents four 1-dimensional models of thermal resistance of walls in a heat exchanger with rectangular minichannels. The first model is the simplest one, with a single wall separating two fluids. The second model of the so called equivalent wall takes into account total volume of intermediate walls between layers of minichannels and of side walls of minichannels. The next two more complicated models take separately into account thermal resistance of these walls. In these two models side walls are treated as fins. The results of models comparison are presented. It is shown that thermal resistance may be neglected for metal walls but it should be taken into account for the walls made of plastics. For the case of non-neglected wall thermal resistance the optimum wall thickness was derived. Minichannel heat exchangers made of plastic are larger than those built of metal, but are significantly cheaper. It makes possible to use of such exchangers in inexpensive microscale ORC installations.