Heat transfer, pressure drop, and flow pattern recognition during condensation inside smooth, helical micro-fin, and herringbone tubes

This paper presents a study of flow regimes, pressure drops, and heat transfer coefficients during refrigerant condensation inside a smooth, an 18° helical micro-fin, and a herringbone tubes. Experimental work was conducted for condensing refrigerants R-22, R-407C, and R-134a at an average saturation temperature of 40 °C with mass fluxes ranging from 400 to 800 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, and with vapour qualities ranging from 0.85 to 0.95 at condenser inlet and from 0.05 to 0.15 at condenser outlet. These test conditions represent annular and intermittent (slug and plug) flow conditions. Results showed that transition from annular flow to intermittent flow, on average for the three refrigerants, occurred at a vapour quality of 0.49 for the smooth tube, 0.29 for the helical micro-fin tube, and 0.26 for the herringbone tube. These transition vapour qualities were also reflected in the pressure gradients, with the herringbone tube having the highest pressure gradient. The pressure gradients encountered in the herringbone tube were about 79% higher than that of the smooth tube and about 27% higher than that of the helical micro-fin tube. A widely used pressure drop correlation for condensation in helical micro-fin tubes was modified for the case of the herringbone tube. The modified correlation predicted the data within a 1% error with an absolute deviation of 7%. Heat transfer enhancement factors for the herringbone tube against the smooth tube were on average 70% higher while against the helical micro-fin tube it was 40% higher. A correlation for predicting heat transfer coefficients inside a helical micro-fin tube was modified for the herringbone tube. On average the correlation predicted the data to within 4% with an average standard deviation of 8%.     

Friction factor correlation and pressure loss of single-phase flow inside herringbone microfin tubes

Pressure drop of single-phase turbulent flow inside herringbone microfin tubes of different fin dimensions has been measured experimentally to develop a general correlation of single-phase friction factor for the herringbone tubes. Water has been used as a working fluid and the mass flow rate has been varied from 0.03 to 0.2 kg/s, where the Reynolds number range is 10⁴ to 6.5 × 10⁴. Comparison of experimental data of the herringbone microfin tubes with those of helical microfin and smooth tubes shows that pressure drop of the herringbone tube is significantly higher than the helical and smooth tubes depending on the fin geometric parameters and mass velocity of the working fluid. Through semi-analytical approach and using the present experimental data, a new correlation of single-phase friction factor for the herringbone microfin tubes has been proposed incorporating the effects of fin geometric parameters. The proposed correlation can predict the experimental data within ±10%.     

Experimental studies on the evaporative heat transfer and pressure drop of CO2 in smooth and micro-fin tubes of the diameters of 5 and 9.52 mm

Carbon dioxide among natural refrigerants has gained a considerable attention as an alternative refrigerant due to its excellent thermophysical properties. In-tube evaporation heat transfer characteristics of carbon dioxide were experimentally investigated and analyzed as a function of evaporating temperature, mass flux, heat flux and tube geometry. Heat transfer coefficient data during evaporation process of carbon dioxide were measured for 5 m long smooth and micro-fin tubes with outer diameters of 5 and 9.52 mm. The tests were conducted at mass fluxes of from 212 to 656 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, saturation temperatures of from 0 to 20 °C and heat fluxes of from 6 to 20 kW m⁻². The difference of heat transfer characteristics between smooth and micro-fin tubes and the effect of mass flux, heat flux, and evaporation temperature on enhancement factor (EF) and penalty factor (PF) were presented. Average evaporation heat transfer coefficients for a micro-fin tube were approximately 150–200% for 9.52 mm OD tube and 170–210% for 5 mm OD tube higher than those for the smooth tube at the same test conditions. The effect of pressure drop expressed by measured penalty factor of 1.2–1.35 was smaller than that of heat transfer enhancement.     

Refrigerant charge, pressure drop, and condensation heat transfer in flattened tubes

Horizontal smooth and microfinned copper tubes with an approximate diameter of 9 mm were successively flattened in order to determine changes in flow field characteristics as a round tube is altered into a flattened tube profile. Refrigerants R134a and R410A were investigated over a mass flux range from 75 to 400 kg m⁻² s⁻¹ and a quality range from approximately 10–80%. For a given refrigerant mass flow rate, the results show that a significant reduction in refrigerant charge is possible. Pressure drop results show increases of pressure drop at a given mass flux and quality as a tube profile is flattened. Heat transfer results indicate enhancement of the condensation heat transfer coefficient as a tube is flattened. Flattened tubes with an 18° helix angle displayed the highest heat transfer coefficients. Smooth tubes and axial microfin tubes displayed similar levels of heat transfer enhancement. Heat transfer enhancement is dependent on the mass flux, quality and tube profile.     

Effects of fin shape on condensation in herringbone microfin tubes

Effects of fin height and helix angle on condensation inside a herringbone microfin tube have been experimentally investigated with five types of herringbone microfin tubes. Heat transfer coefficients are about 2–4 times higher than that of the helical microfin tube under high mass velocity conditions. In the low mass velocity, they are equal to that of the helical microfin tube. The heat transfer enhancement increases with fin height up to 0.18 mm; higher fin heights show enhancement values similar to the 0.18 mm results. Pressure drop increases with the fin height. Larger helix angle yields higher heat transfer and higher pressure drop. For the lowest fin and/or smallest helix angle, the pressure drop is comparable with that of the helical microfin tube, while the heat transfer enhancement is higher. The enhancement mechanism is discussed from flow pattern observations. Effect of mass transfer resistance for R410A is estimated and negligible effects have been proved.     

Flow condensation heat transfer coefficients of R22, R134a, R407C, and R410A inside plain and microfin tubes

Flow condensation heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) of R22, R134a, R407C, and R410A inside horizontal plain and microfin tubes of 9.52 mm outside diameter and 1 m length were measured at the condensation temperature of 40 °C with mass fluxes of 100, 200, and 300 kg m⁻² s⁻¹ and a heat flux of 7.7–7.9 kW m⁻². For a plain tube, HTCs of R134a and R410A were similar to those of R22 while HTCs of R407C are 11–15% lower than those of R22. For a microfin tube, HTCs of R134a were similar to those of R22 while HTCs of R407C and R410A were 23–53% and 10–21% lower than those of R22. For a plain tube, our correlation agreed well with the present data for all refrigerants exhibiting a mean deviation of 11.6%. Finally, HTCs of a microfin tube were 2–3 times higher than those of a plain tube and the heat transfer enhancement factor decreased as the mass flux increased for all refrigerants tested.     

Two-phase pressure drop of R-410A in horizontal smooth minichannels

Convective boiling pressure drop experiments were performed in horizontal minichannels with a binary mixture refrigerant, R-410A. The test section was made of stainless steel tubes with inner diameters of 1.5 mm and 3.0 mm and with lengths of 1500 mm and 3000 mm, respectively. This test section was uniformly heated by applying electric current directly to the tubes. Experiments were performed at inlet saturation temperature of 10 °C, mass flux ranges from 300 to 600 kg m⁻² s⁻¹ and heat flux ranges from 10 to 40 kW m⁻². The current study showed the significant effect of mass flux and tube diameter on pressure drop. The experimental results were compared against 15 two-phase pressure drop prediction methods. The homogeneous model predicted well the experimental pressure drop, generally. A new pressure drop prediction method based on the Lockhart–Martinelli method was developed with 4.02% mean deviation.     

Condensation heat transfer and pressure drop in flattened microfin tubes having different aspect ratios

In this study, condensation heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops of R-410A are obtained in flattened microfin tubes made from 7.0 mm O.D. round microfin tubes. The test range covers saturation temperature 45 °C, mass flux 100–400 kg m⁻² s⁻¹ and quality 0.2–0.8. Results show that the effect of aspect ratio on condensation heat transfer coefficient is dependent on the flow pattern. For annular flow, the heat transfer coefficient increases as aspect ratio increases. For stratified flow, however, the heat transfer coefficient decreases as aspect ratio increases. The pressure drop always increases as aspect ratio increases. Possible reasoning is provided based on the estimated flow pattern in flat microfin tubes. Comparison with existing round microfin tube correlations is made.     

NH3 in-tube condensation heat transfer and pressure drop in a smooth tube

This paper presents an overview of the issues and new results for in-tube condensation of ammonia in horizontal round tubes. A new empirical correlation is presented based on measured NH₃ in-tube condensation heat transfer and pressure drop by Komandiwirya et al. [Komandiwirya, H.B., Hrnjak, P.S., Newell, T.A., 2005. An experimental investigation of pressure drop and heat transfer in an in-tube condensation system of ammonia with and without miscible oil in smooth and enhanced tubes. ACRC CR-54, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign] in an 8.1 mm aluminum tube at a saturation temperature of 35 °C, and for a mass flux range of 20–270 kg m⁻² s⁻¹. Most correlations overpredict these measured NH₃ heat transfer coefficients, up to 300%. The reasons are attributed to difference in thermophysical properties of ammonia compared to other refrigerants used in generation and validation of the correlations. Based on the conventional correlations, thermophysical properties of ammonia, and measured heat transfer coefficients, a new correlation was developed which can predict most of the measured values within ±20%. Measured NH₃ pressure drop is shown and discussed. Two separated flow models are shown to predict the pressure drop relatively well at pressure drop higher than 1 kPa m⁻¹, while a homogeneous model yields acceptable values at pressure drop less than 1 kPa m⁻¹. The pressure drop mechanism and prediction accuracy are explained though the use of flow patterns.     

Evaporation heat transfer for R-22 and R-407C refrigerant–oil mixture in a microfin tube with a U-bendTransfert de chaleur lors de l'évaporation de R-22 et de R-407C mélangés avec de l'huile dans un tube à micro-ailettes avec un coude en U

Evaporation heat transfer experiments for two refrigerants, R-407C and R-22, mixed with polyol ester and mineral oils were performed in straight and U-bend sections of a microfin tube. Experimental parameters include an oil concentration varied from 0 to 5%, an inlet quality varied from 0.1 to 0.5, two mass fluxes of 219 and 400 kg m⁻²s⁻¹ and two heat fluxes of 10 and 20 kW m⁻². Pressure drop in the test section increased by approximately 20% as the oil concentration increased from 0 to 5%. Enhancement factors decreased as oil concentration increased under inlet quality of 0.5, mass flux of 219 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, and heat flux of 10 kW m⁻², whereas they increased under inlet quality of 0.1, mass flux of 400 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, and heat flux of 20 kW m⁻². The local heat transfer coefficient at the outside curvature of an U-bend was larger than that at the inside curvature of a U-bend, and the maximum value occurred at the 90° position of the U-bend. The heat transfer coefficient was larger in a region of 30 tube diameter length at the second straight section than that at the first straight section.     

Two-phase flow heat transfer of CO2 vaporization in smooth horizontal minichannels

Experiments were performed on the convective boiling heat transfer in horizontal minichannels with CO₂. The test section is made of stainless steel tubes with inner diameters of 1.5 and 3.0 mm and with lengths of 2000 and 3000 mm, respectively, and it is uniformly heated by applying an electric current directly to the tubes. Local heat transfer coefficients were obtained for a heat flux range of 20–40 kW m⁻², a mass flux range of 200–600 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, saturation temperatures of 10, 0, −5, and −10 °C and quality ranges of up to 1.0. Nucleate boiling heat transfer contribution was predominant, especially at low quality region. The reduction of heat transfer coefficient occurred at a lower vapor quality with a rise of heat flux, mass flux and saturation temperature, and with a smaller inner tube diameter. The experimental heat transfer coefficient of CO₂ is about three times higher than that of R-134a. Laminar flow appears in the minichannel flows. A new boiling heat transfer coefficient correlation that is based on the superposition model for CO₂ was developed with 8.41% mean deviation.     

Heat transfer and flow pattern during two-phase flow boiling of R-134a in horizontal smooth and microfin tubes

Flow pattern and heat transfer during evaporation in a 10.7 mm diameter smooth tube and a micro-fin tube are presented. The tubes were tested in the ranges of mass flux between 163 and 408 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, and heat flux between 2200 and 56 000 W m⁻². The evaporation temperature was 6 °C. Flow maps for both the tubes are plotted in the coordinates of mass flux and vapor quality. The relations of flow pattern and local heat transfer coefficient are discussed. The heat transfer coefficients for intermittent and annular flows in both the smooth tube and the micro-fin tube are shown to agree well with Gungor and Winterton's correlation with modified constants.     

CO2 flow condensation heat transfer and pressure drop in multi-port microchannels at low temperatures

CO₂ flow condensation heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop are investigated for 0.89 mm microchannels at horizontal flow conditions. They were measured at saturation temperatures of −15 and −25 °C, mass fluxes from 200 to 800 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, and wall subcooling temperatures from 2 to 4 °C. Flow patterns for experimental conditions were predicted by two flow pattern maps, and it could be predicted that annular flow patterns could exist in most of flow conditions except low mass flux and low vapor quality conditions. Measured heat transfer coefficients increased with the increase of mass fluxes and vapor qualities, whereas they were almost independent of wall subcooling temperature changes. Several correlations could predict heat transfer coefficients within acceptable error range, and from this comparison, it could be inferred that the flow condensation mechanism in 0.89 mm channels should be similar to that in large tubes. CO₂ two-phase pressure drop, measured in adiabatic conditions, increased with the increase of mass flux and vapor quality, and it decreased with the increase of saturation temperature. By comparing measured pressure drop with calculated values, it was shown that several correlations could predict the measured values relatively well.     

Forced convective boiling heat transfer of R-410A in horizontal minichannels

Convective boiling heat transfer experiments were performed in horizontal minichannels with binary mixture refrigerant, R-410A. The test section is made of stainless steel tubes with inner diameters of 1.5 mm and 3.0 mm and with lengths of 1500 mm and 3000 mm, respectively, and is uniformly heated by applying electric current directly to the tubes. Local heat transfer coefficients were obtained for a heat flux range of 10–30 kW m⁻², a mass flux range of 300–600 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, and quality ranges of up to 1.0. The experimental results were mapped on Wang et al.'s (C.C. Wang, C.S. Chiang, D.C. Lu, Visual observation of two-phase flow pattern of R-22, R-134a, and R-407C in a 6.5-mm smooth tube, Experimental, Thermal and Fluid Science 15 (1997) 395–405) and Wojtan et al.'s (L. Wojtan, T. Ursenbacher, J.R. Thome, Investigation of flow boiling in horizontal tubes: part I – a new diabatic two-phase flow pattern map, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 48 (2005) 2955–2969) flow pattern maps to observe the flow regimes. Laminar flow appears in flow with minichannels. A new boiling heat transfer coefficient correlation based on the superposition model for R-410A was developed with 11.20% mean deviation; it showed a good agreement between the measured data and the calculated heat transfer coefficients.     

Experimental study on the evaporative heat transfer and pressure drop of CO2 flowing upward in vertical smooth and micro-fin tubes with the diameter of 5 mm

Because of the ozone layer depletion and global warming, new alternative refrigerants are being developed. In this study, evaporation heat transfer characteristic and pressure drop of carbon dioxide flowing upward in vertical smooth and micro-fin tubes were investigated by experiment with regard to evaporating temperature, mass flux and heat flux. The vertical smooth and micro-fin tubes with outer diameter (OD) of 5 mm and length of 1.44 m were selected as a test section to measure the evaporative heat transfer coefficient. The tests were conducted at mass fluxes from 212 to 530 kg/(m² s), saturation temperatures from −5 to 20 °C and heat fluxes from 15 to 45 kW/m², where the test section was heated by a direct heating method. The differences of heat transfer characteristics between the smooth and the micro-fin tubes were analyzed with respect to enhancement factor (EF) and penalty factor (PF). Average evaporation heat transfer coefficients for the micro-fin tube were approximately 111–207% higher than those for the smooth tube at the same test conditions, and PF was increased from 106 to 123%.     

Heat transfer characteristics of refrigerant-based nanofluid flow boiling inside a horizontal smooth tube

The objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of nanoparticles on the heat transfer characteristics of refrigerant-based nanofluid flow boiling inside a horizontal smooth tube, and to present a correlation for predicting heat transfer performance of refrigerant-based nanofluid. For the convenience of preparing refrigerant-based nanofluid, R113 refrigerant and CuO nanoparticles were used. Experimental conditions include an evaporation pressure of 78.25 kPa, mass fluxes from 100 to 200 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, heat fluxes from 3.08 to 6.16 kW m⁻², inlet vapor qualities from 0.2 to 0.7, and mass fractions of nanoparticles from 0 to 0.5 wt%. The experimental results show that the heat transfer coefficient of refrigerant-based nanofluid is larger than that of pure refrigerant, and the maximum enhancement of heat transfer coefficient is 29.7%. A heat transfer correlation for refrigerant-based nanofluid is proposed, and the predictions agree with 93% of the experimental data within the deviation of ±20%.     

Effect of lubricating oil on cooling heat transfer of supercritical carbon dioxide

In this research, the cooling heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of supercritical CO₂ with PAG-type lubricating oil entrained were experimentally investigated. The inner diameter of the test tubes ranged from 1 to 6 mm. The experiments were conducted at lubricating oil concentrations from 0 to 5%, pressures from 8 to 10 MPa, mass fluxes from 200 to 1200 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, and heat fluxes from 12 to 24 kW m⁻².In comparison to the oil-free condition, when lubricating oil entrainment occurred, the heat transfer coefficient decreased and the pressure drop increased. The maximum reduction in the heat transfer coefficients—about 75%—occurred in the vicinity of the pseudocritical temperature. The influence of oil was significant for a small tube diameter and a large oil concentration. From visual observation, it was confirmed that this degradation in the heat transfer was due to the formation of an oil-rich layer along the inner wall of the test tube. However, when the oil concentration exceeded 3%, no further degradation in the heat transfer coefficient could be confirmed, which implies that the oil flowing along with CO₂ in the bulk region does not influence the heat transfer coefficient and the pressure drops significantly. For a large tube at a lower mass flux, no significant degradation in the heat transfer coefficient was observed until the oil concentration reached 1%. This is due to the transition of the flow pattern from an annular-dispersed flow to a wavy flow for a large tube, with CO₂ flowing on the upper side and the oil-rich layer on the lower side of the test section.     

Evaporating heat transfer of R22 and R410A in horizontal smooth and microfin tubes

An experimental investigation of condensation heat transfer in 9.52 mm O.D. horizontal copper tubes was conducted using R22 and R410A. The test rig had a straight, horizontal test section with an active length of 0.92 m and was cooled by the heat transfer fluid (cold water) circulated in a surrounding annulus. Constant heat flux of 11.0 kW/m² was maintained throughout the experiment and refrigerant quality varied from 0.9 to 0.1. The condensation test results at 45 °C were reported for 40–80 kg/h mass flow rate. The local and average condensation coefficients for seven microfin tubes were presented compared to those for a smooth tube. The average condensation coefficients of R22 and R410A for the microfin tubes were 1.7–3.19 and 1.7–2.94 times larger than those in smooth tube, respectively.     

Experimental verification of H2O/LiBr absorber bundle performance with smooth horizontal tubes

A model for absorption of water vapor into LiBr flowing over horizontal smooth tubes is developed to predict the absorption performance of a tube bundle. The performance of a horizontal smooth tube absorber is calculated and compared with experimental data. The calculation results of absorber performance are found to vary considerably depending on mass diffusivity. The literature value of mass diffusivity, of the order of 10⁻⁹ m² s⁻¹, causes the model to deviate from the experimental results especially for solution side heat transfer coefficient. A parametric study varying mass diffusivity shows that a value of 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ m² s⁻¹ gives a better agreement with the experimental results. The effects of absorber capacity, heat transfer coefficient of droplets ejected from the system (slinging) and number of tubes in the bundle on the absorption performance are also discussed.     

An experimental comparison of evaporation and condensation heat transfer coefficients for HFC-134a and CFC-12

Experimental heat transfer coefficients are reported for HFC-134a and CFC-12 during in-tube single-phase flow, evaporation and condensation. These heat transfer coefficients were measured in a horizontal, smooth tube with an inner diameter of 8.0 mm and a length of 3.67 m. The refrigerant in the test-tube was heated or cooled by using water flowing through an annulus surrounding the tube. Evaporation tests were performed for a refrigerant temperature range of 5–15°C with inlet and exit qualities of 10 and 90%, respectively. For condensation tests, the refrigerant temperature ranged from 30 to 50°C, with et and exit qualities of 90 and 10%, respectively. The mass flux was varied from 125 to 400 kg m⁻² s⁻¹ for all tests. For similar mass fluxes, the evaporation and condensation heat transfer coefficients for HFC-134a were significantly higher than those of CFC-12. Specifically, HFC-134a showed a 35–45% increase over CFC-12 for evaporation and a 25–35% increase over CFC-12 for condensation.