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Condensation heat transfer characteristics of R-22, R-134a and R-410A in small diameter tubes

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Abstract

The condensation heat transfer of pure refrigerants, R-22, R-134a and a binary refrigerant R-410A flowing in small diameter tubes was investigated experimentally. The condenser is a countflow heat exchanger which refrigerant flows in the inner tube and cooling water flows in the annulus. The heat exchanger is smooth, horizontal copper tube of 1.77, 3.36 and 5.35 mm inner diameter, respectively. The length of heat exchanger is 1220, 2660 and 3620 mm, respectively. The experiments were conducted at mass flux of 200–400 kg/m2 s and saturation temperature of 40°C. The main results were summarized as follows: in case of single-phase flow, the single-phase Nusselt Number measured by experimental data was higher than that calculated by Gnielinski and Wu and Little correlation. The new single-phase correlation based on the experimental data was proposed in this study. In case of two-phase flow, the condensation heat transfer coefficient of R-410A for three tubes was slightly higher than that of R-22 and R-134a at the given mass flux. The condensation heat transfer coefficient of R-22 showed almost a similar value to that of R-134a. The condensation heat transfer coefficient for R-22, R-134a and R-410A increased with increasing mass flux and decreasing tube diameter. Most of the existing correlations which were proposed in the large diameter tube failed to predict condensation heat transfer. Therefore, the new condensation heat transfer correlation based on the experimental data was proposed in the present study.

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Abbreviations

A:

Area (m2)

cp :

Specific heat at constant pressure (kJ kg−1 K−1)

d:

Diameter (m)

h:

Heat transfer coefficient (kW m−2 K−1)

G:

Mass velocity (kg m−2 s−1)

g:

Acceleration of gravity (m s−2)

i:

Enthalpy, Number index (kJ kg−1)

ifg :

Latent heat (kJ kg−1)

jv :

Apparent velocity of vapor

L:

Total condensing length (m)

N:

Number of data

Q:

Heat capacity (kW)

R:

Function of independent variables

T:

Temperature (K)

U:

Uncertainty

x:

Vapor quality

z:

Length of subsection (m)

f:

Friction factor (0.3164 Re −1/4)

Nu :

Nusselt number (h di k−1)

Pr :

Prandtl number (cp μ k−1)

Re :

Reynolds number (G di μ−1)

ρ :

Density (kg m−3)

μ :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)

κ :

Thermal conductivity (mW m−1 K−1)

σ:

Deviation

X tt :

Martinelli parameter

abs:

Mean

avg:

Average

c:

Condensation

cal:

Calculated

cr:

Refrigerant

cs:

Source water

exp:

Experimental

l:

Liquid phase

L:

Local

m:

Average

i:

Inner, Number index

in:

Inlet

out:

Outlet

p:

Pre-heater

sub:

Subsection

t:

Test section

v:

Vapor phase

w:

Tube wall

wi:

Inside tube wall

wo:

Outside tube wall

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineering, Pukyong National University, San 100, Yongdang-dong, Nam-gu, Pusan, 608-739, South Korea

    Chang-Hyo Son & Ho-Saeng Lee

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  1. Chang-Hyo Son
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  2. Ho-Saeng Lee
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Correspondence to Ho-Saeng Lee.

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Son, CH., Lee, HS. Condensation heat transfer characteristics of R-22, R-134a and R-410A in small diameter tubes. Heat Mass Transfer 45, 1153–1166 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-009-0489-6

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