Refrigerant-side tradeoffs in micro channel evaporators

The air-side energy equation defines the air flow rate and the face velocity is
fixed, the face area will also remain nearly constant in the analyses that follow.
The three parameters being varied are fin height, thickness and pitch. The effect
this has on the geometry is changing the area ratio (refrigerant and air-side area).
Designing for a specified pressure drop effectively determines the mass flux, heat
transfer capacity and tube length for a given value of ha on the air-side. Thus
changes in air-side geometry will affect the number and length of ports required,
but the nearly-constant face area means that the primary effect will be seen on
the depth of the heat exchanger core (i.e. tube major dimension and the number
of ports per tube).