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Effects of saturation temperature variation due to pressure drop of working fluid in heat exchanger on heat transfer performance

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Abstract

The effect of the saturation temperature drop on the heat transfer performance of a heat exchanger was analyzed under air-conditioner condensing condition, air-conditioner evaporating condition, and refrigerator evaporating condition. The thermodynamic analysis results show that the heat transfer capacity due to the pressure drop of the saturated refrigerant was at least 2.3 % and at most 91.1 % compared to the evaluated heat transfer capacity assuming no pressure loss. The rate of change of heat transfer capacity was the largest in the order of R600a, R1234yf, R134a, R410A, and R32. Heat exchanger performance simulation under practical air-conditioner operating conditions showed that the heat transfer capacity was reduced by 0.72 % due to refrigerant pressure drop under the condensing condition. On the other hand, the heat transfer capacity was increased by 26.55 % under the evaporating condition.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area

Bo :

Boiling number

C :

Constant

COP :

Coefficient of performance

D h :

Hydraulic diameter

E :

Empirical coefficient

h :

Convective heat transfer coefficient

i iv :

Enthalpy of latent heat

k :

Thermal conductivity

M :

Molecular weight

P :

Pressure

P R :

Reduced pressure

Pr :

Prandtl number

ΔP :

Pressure drop

Q :

Heat transfer rate

q″ h :

Heat flux

R :

Thermal resistance

R c :

Gas constant

Re :

Reynolds number

S :

Empirical coefficient

T :

Temperature

ΔT :

Temperature difference

ΔT LM :

Log mean temperature difference

U :

Overall heat transfer coefficient

X tt :

Lockhart-martinelli parameter based on turbulent liquidturbulent vapor flow

x :

Quality

η :

Overall surface effectiveness

μ :

Dynamic viscosity

ρ :

Density

actual :

Actual case

air :

Air-side

cond. :

Condensation

evap. :

Evaporation

i :

Inlet

ideal :

Ideal case

l :

Liquid

nb :

Nucleate boiling

o :

Outlet

real :

Real case

ref :

Refrigerant-side

sat :

Saturated

sp :

Single-phase

v :

Vapor

wall :

Wall-side

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. 2020R1A5A8018822, 2019R1A2C1086867).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Korea

    Hyoin Lee & Ji Hwan Jeong

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  1. Hyoin Lee
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  2. Ji Hwan Jeong
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Correspondence to Ji Hwan Jeong.

Additional information

Ji Hwan Jeong is a Professor of School of Mechanical Engineering at Pusan National University in Busan, Korea. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from Seoul National University in 1988 and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from KAIST in 1990 and 1995. His research interests include heat transfer augmentation, heat exchangers, refrigeration, and heat pump.

Hyoin Lee is a Ph.D. student of the school of Mechanical Engineering at Pusan National University in Busan, Korea. He received his Bachelor’s and Master degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pusan National University in 2016 and 2018. His research interests include heat transfer enhancement, heat exchangers and refrigeration.

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Lee, H., Jeong, J.H. Effects of saturation temperature variation due to pressure drop of working fluid in heat exchanger on heat transfer performance. J Mech Sci Technol 36, 5765–5776 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-1038-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-1038-1

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