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Condensation heat transfer coefficients of flammable refrigerants on various enhanced tubes

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Abstract

In this study, external condensation heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) of six flammable refrigerants of propylene (R1270), propane (R290), isobutane (R600a), butane (R600), dimethylether (RE170), and HFC32 were measured at the vapor temperature of 39°C on a 1023 fpm low fin and Turbo-C tubes. All data were taken under the heat flux of 32- 116 and 42-142 kW/m2 for the Iow fin and Turbo-C tubes respectively. Flammable refrigerants’ data obtained on enhanced tubes showed a typical trend that external condensation HTCs decrease with increasing wall subcooling. HFC32 and DME showed up to 30% higher HTCs than those of HCFC22 due to their excellent thermophysical properties. Propylene, propane, isobutane, and butane showed similar or lower HTCs than those of HCFC22. Beatty and Katz’ correlation predicted the HTCs of the flammable refrigerants obtained on a low fin tube within a mean deviation of 7.3%. Turbo-C tube showed the best performance due to its 3 dimensional surface geometry for fast removal of condensate.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area [m2]

D :

Diameter [m]

F :

Property factor

fpi:

Fins per inch

g :

Gravitational acceleration [m/s2]

h :

Heat transfer coefflcient [W/m2K]

h fg :

Heat of evaporation [kJ/kg]

k :

Thermal conductivity [W/m-K]

L:

Length [m]

T :

Temperature [°C or K]

ΔT :

Temperature difference [°C or K]

η :

Fin efficiency

μ :

Dynamic viscosity [Pa-s]

θ :

Density [kg/m3]

B&K:

Beatty and Katz

C :

Characteristic

exp:

Experimental

f:

Saturated liquid phase or fin

g:

Saturated vapor phase

Nusselt :

Nusselt

o:

Outside diameter

pre:

Predicted

r:

Root of fin

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, 253, Yonghyundong, Inchon 402-751, Namgu, Korea

    Ki-Jung Park & Dongsoo Jung

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  1. Ki-Jung Park
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  2. Dongsoo Jung
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Correspondence to Dongsoo Jung.

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Park, KJ., Jung, D. Condensation heat transfer coefficients of flammable refrigerants on various enhanced tubes. J Mech Sci Technol 19, 1957–1963 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984275

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984275

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