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A novel concept for automotive air conditioning condensers has been developed. The condenser utilizes flat oval tube technology currently used in automotive radiators. The innovative FOTC (Flat Oval Tube Condenser) design has mechanically expanded tubes measuring 8mm x 2.1mm with a wall thickness of 0.5mm. It has shown through testing to be more efficient than the current known PFC (Parallel Flow Condenser) design at low vehicle speed operations. Compared to the PFC design the FOTC utilizes a smaller internal volume which reduces weight and refrigerant charge. With this understanding it can easily be seen the FOTC design is also far superior to current round tube condenser manufactured today. It can also be seen that the individual tubes of the FOTC are better protected against debris encountered under typical highway driving conditions, due to the width of the finstock of 16mm.

During the past few years, a new Flat Oval Tube Condenser has been developed (1) and launched in the market place (2) as a very strong and competitive alternative to the well known brazed Parallel Flow Condenser, due to its high performance and low cost. The Flat Oval Tubing used for this condenser application, seems very similar to traditional tubing used in Oval and Flat Oval Tube Radiators. However, due to higher pressure and pulsations when the A/C system is cycled on and off, it was very important to study fatigue properties to ensure a sufficient lifetime for Flat Oval Tube Condensers.