Effect of a double-row liquid–vapor separation condenser on an air-conditioning unit performance

•A double-row liquid–vapor separation condenser (DLSC) is presented.•The DLSC owns better wall temperature uniformity at two-phase section and subcooled section.•The air conditioning unit with the DLSC works better at high outdoor temperature.•The DLSC can improve the system performance of the air conditioning unit. A double-row liquid–vapor separation condenser (DLSC) is presented, and its optimal pass scheme is obtained by numerical calculation and is applied to an air conditioning unit. The thermodynamic performance of the air conditioning unit with the DLSC is tested experimentally. The pressure drop and the heat transfer uniformity of the DLSC and the cooling capacity and energy efficiency ratio (EER) of the air conditioning unit are analyzed. Results indicate that the pressure drop of the DLSC is much smaller than that of the original condenser, and the two-phase heat transfer uniformity of the DLSC is better than that of the original condenser. Overall, the DLSC can improve the cooling capacity and the EER of the air conditioning system.