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Performance of J–T refrigerators operating with mixtures and coiled wire-finned heat exchangers

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Abstract

Joule–Thomson refrigerators operating with mixtures require heat exchangers with an effectiveness of over 96% for the system to function. The hot (high pressure) stream enters the heat exchanger in a superheated condition and leaves in a subcooled state. The cold (low pressure) stream, on the other hand, enters the heat exchanger in a two-phase state and leaves in a superheated state. The streams undergo a temperature change of over 200 K in the heat exchanger. The above requirements mandate the use of innovative heat transfer surfaces in the heat exchanger. Coiled wire-finned heat exchangers have been employed successfully in this work. In this paper, we present the performance of the J–T refrigerator with two different wire-finned heat exchangers (wire-fin pitches of 8 mm and 12.7 mm) measured in our test stand. About 20 K lower temperature could be obtained when the wire-fin pitch was changed from 12.7 to 8 mm. The exergy efficiency of the refrigerator also improved.

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Abbreviations

d :

Diameter (mm)

D :

Coil diameter (mm)

h :

Enthalpy (kJ kg−1)

H p :

High pressure (bar)

HX:

Heat exchanger

L :

Length (mm)

L p :

Low pressure (bar)

ṅ :

Mass flow rate of the refrigerant (kg s−1)

p :

Pitch of the wire (mm)

s :

Specific entropy (KJ K−1)

t :

Time (min)

T :

Temperature of the refrigerant (K)

Q :

Applied heat load (W)

Evap:

Evaporator

In:

Inside

O:

Ambient

Out:

Outside

Ref:

Actual

S:

Shell

Tube:

Tube

we:

Warm end

* :

Equivalent

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India

    S. S. Harish Kruthiventi

  2. Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

    S. S. Harish Kruthiventi & G. Venkatarathnam

Authors
  1. S. S. Harish Kruthiventi
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  2. G. Venkatarathnam
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Correspondence to S. S. Harish Kruthiventi.

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Kruthiventi, S.S.H., Venkatarathnam, G. Performance of J–T refrigerators operating with mixtures and coiled wire-finned heat exchangers. J Therm Anal Calorim 141, 2169–2175 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09338-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09338-y

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