Influence of oil on nucleate pool boiling heat transfer of refrigerant on metal foam covers

Nucleate pool boiling heat transfer characteristics of refrigerant/oil mixture on metal foam covers were experimentally investigated. The refrigerant is R113, and the oil is VG68. The copper foams, having ppi (pores per inch) of 10 and 20, porosity from 90% to 98%, and thickness of 5 mm, are selected in this study. Experimental conditions include a saturation pressure of 101 kPa, oil concentrations from 0 to 5%, and heat fluxes from 0 to 80 kW m⁻². The experimental results indicate that the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer coefficient on copper foam covers is larger than that on flat heated surface by a maximum of 160% under the present experimental conditions; the presence of oil deteriorates the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer on copper foam covers by a maximum of 15% under the present experimental conditions, and the deterioration of oil on nucleate pool boiling heat transfer on copper foam covers is lower than that on a flat heated surface. A correlation for predicting the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer coefficient of refrigerant/oil mixture on copper foam cover is developed, and it agrees with 95% of the experimental data within a deviation of ±20%.