Luisa Rossetto

Condensation in Horizontal Smooth Tubes: A New Heat Transfer Model for Heat Exchanger Design

This paper proposes a new method to determine the condensation heat transfer coefficient of fluids flowing into horizontal smooth tubes with internal diameters D > 3 mm. The method has been drawn up as simply as possible and is ready to use in heat exchanger modeling and design applications. It is also suitable to work very well with old and new fluids used in the refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump industries. Particular attention is given to accuracy: it has been tested over a wide updated experimental database and comes from many different independent researchers with reduced experimental uncertainties. In order to obtain an easy structure, only two equations are employed, related respectively to & Delta; T-independent and to & Delta; T-dependent fluid flows. All the parameters that influence the condensation heat transfer have been included. A comparison has been conducted against HCFCs, HFCs, HCs, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and water data. Zeotropic mixtures with two and three components are also considered in the comparison by applying the Bell and Ghaly [1] correction to calculate the relative heat transfer penalization. A model has been developed with the idea of getting high accuracy through an easy structure, and the results show a very satisfactory agreement with experimental data: average deviation eR = +2%, absolute mean deviation eAB = 14%, and standard deviation σN = 19% for the total number of 5478 data points.

Condensation inside and outside smooth and enhanced tubes — a review of recent research

Condensation heat transfer, both inside and outside horizontal tubes, plays a key role in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump applications. In the recent years the science of condensation heat transfer has been severely challenged by the adoption of substitute working fluids and new enhanced surfaces for heat exchangers. Well-known and widely established semiempirical correlations to predict heat transfer during condensation may show to be quite inaccurate in some new applications, and consequently a renewed effort is now being dedicated to the characterisation of flow conditions and associated predictive procedures for heat transfer and pressure drop of condensing vapours, even in the form of zeotropic mixtures. This paper critically reviews the most recent results appeared in the open literature and pertinent to thermal design of condensers for the air conditioning and refrigeration industry; both in-tube and bundle condensation are considered, related to the use of plain and enhanced surfaces.

Experimental investigation on condensation heat transfer and pressure drop of new HFC refrigerants (R134A, R125, R32, R410A, R236ea) in a horizontal smooth tube

Abstract This paper reports experimental heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops measured during condensation inside a smooth tube when operating with pure HFC refrigerants (R134a, R125, R236ea, R32) and the nearly azeotropic HFC refrigerant blend R410A. Data taken when condensing HCFC-22 are also reported for reference. The experimental runs are carried out at a saturation temperature ranging between 30 and 50°C, and mass velocities varying from 100 to 750 kg/(m2 s), over the vapour quality range 0.15–0.85. The effects of vapour quality, mass velocity, saturation temperature and temperature difference between saturation and tube wall on the heat transfer coefficient are investigated by analysing the experimental data. A predictive study of the condensation flow patterns occurring during the tests is also presented. Finally comparisons with predictions from the model by Kosky and Staub (Kosky PG, Staub FW. Local condensing heat transfer coefficients in the annular flow regime. AIChE J 1971;17:1037) are reported for all the data sets.

Heat transfer and pressure drop during condensation of refrigerants inside horizontal enhanced tubes

Abstract This paper presents a critical review of correlations to compute heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop, for refrigerants condensing inside commercially available tubes with enhanced surfaces of various types, and a theoretical analysis of the condensation phenomenon. Predictions from some of the above equations are compared with experimental data. In addition, information is presented about the influence of small amounts of compressor oil on the condensation of refrigerants in enhanced tubes.

Update on condensation heat transfer and pressure drop inside minichannels

The present paper reviews published experimental work focusing on condensation flow regimes, heat transfer, and pressure drop in minichannels. New experimental data are available with high (R410A), medium (R134a), and low (R236ea) pressure refrigerants in minichannels of different cross-section geometries and with hydraulic diameters ranging from 0.4 to 3 mm. Because of the influence of flow regimes on heat transfer and pressure drop, a literature review is presented to discuss flow regimes transitions. The available experimental frictional pressure gradients and heat transfer coefficients are compared with semi-empirical and theoretical models developed for conventional channels and models specifically created for minichannels. Starting from the results of the comparison between experimental data and models, the paper will discuss and evaluate the opportunity for a new heat transfer model for condensation in minichannels; the new model attempts to take into account the effect of the entrainment rate of droplets from the liquid film.

Condensation Heat Transfer and Pressure Gradient Inside Multiport Minichannels

Abstract In this paper, the experimental heat transfer coefficients measured during condensation of R134a and R410A inside multiport minichannels are presented. The frictional pressure gradient was also measured during adiabatic two-phase flow. The need for experimental research on condensation inside multiport minichannels comes from the wide use of those channels in automotive air-conditioners. The perspective for the adoption of similar channels in the residential air conditioning applications also calls for experimental research on new high pressure refrigerants, such as R410A. Experimental data are compared against models to show the accuracy of the models in the prediction of heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop inside minichannels.

Condensation Heat Transfer and Pressure Losses of High- and Low-Pressure Refrigerants Flowing in a Single Circular Minichannel

A 0.96 mm circular minichannel is used to measure both heat transfer coefficients during condensation and two-phase pressure losses of the refrigerants R32 and R245fa. Test runs have been performed at around 40°C saturation temperature, corresponding to 24.8 bar saturation pressure for R32 and 2.5 bar saturation pressure for R245fa. The pressure drop tests have been performed in adiabatic flow conditions, to measure only the pressure losses due to friction. The heat transfer experimental data are compared against predicting models to provide a guideline for the design of minichannel condensers.

Pressure Drop During Two-Phase Flow of R134a and R32 in a Single Minichannel

Condensation in minichannels is widely used in air-cooled condensers for the automotive and air-conditioning industry, heat pipes, and compact heat exchangers. The knowledge of pressure drops in such small channels is important in order to optimize heat transfer surfaces. Most of the available experimental work refers to measurements obtained within multiport smooth extruded tubes and deal with the average values over the number of parallel channels. In this context, the present authors have set up a new test apparatus for heat transfer and fluid flow studies in single minichannels. This paper presents new experimental frictional pressure gradient data, relative to single-phase flow and adiabatic two-phase flow of R134a and R32 inside a single horizontal minitube, with a 0.96 mm inner diameter and with not-negligible surface roughness. The new all-liquid and all-vapor data are successfully compared against predictions of single-phase flow models. Also the two-phase flow data are compared against a model previously developed by the present authors for adiabatic flow or flow during condensation of halogenated refrigerants inside smooth minichannels. Surface roughness effects on the liquid-vapor flow are discussed. In this respect, the friction factor in the proposed model is modified, in order to take into consideration also effects due to wall roughness.

Flow Boiling of R245fa in a Single Circular Microchannel

This paper describes an experimental setup for the investigation of two-phase heat transfer inside microchannels and reports local heat transfer coefficients measured during flow boiling of HFC-245fa in a 0.96-mm-diameter single circular channel. The test runs have been performed during vaporization at around 1.85 bar, corresponding to 31°C saturation temperature. As a peculiar characteristic of the present technique, the heat transfer coefficient is not measured by imposing the heat flux; instead, the boiling process is governed by controlling the inlet temperature of the heating secondary fluid. In the data, mass velocity ranges between 200 and 400 kg m−2 s−1, with heat flux varying from 5 to 85 kW m−2 and vapor quality from 0.05 up to 0.8. Since these data are not measured at uniform heat flux conditions, a proper analysis is performed to enlighten the influence of the different parameters and to compare the present data to those obtained when the heat flux is imposed. Besides, the test runs have been carried out in a double mode: by increasing the water-to-refrigerant temperature difference and by decreasing it. Finally, the experimental data are compared to models available in the literature for predicting the heat transfer coefficients inside microchannels.

Air Flow in Aluminum Foam: Heat Transfer and Pressure Drops Measurements

Abstract Metal foams are cellular structure materials that present open cells, randomly oriented and mostly homogeneous in size and shape. Cellular structure materials, and particularly open-cell metal foams, have been proposed as possible substitutes for traditional finned surfaces in electronics cooling applications. This article presents the heat transfer and pressure drops measurements obtained during air flow through an aluminum foam, which has 40 pores per inch with 0.63 mm pore diameter. The specimen has been inserted in a new open-circuit type wind channel with a rectangular cross-section that has recently been built at the Department of Fisica Tecnica of the University of Padova. The experimental heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops have been collected by varying the air flow rate supplied by the screw compressor that provides a variable volumetric air flow ranging between 0–90 m3h−1 at a constant gauge pressure of 7 bar. The specific heat flux has been simulated by powering with a 25-kWm−2 copper heater attached at the bottom of the aluminum foam base plate. The experimental results are reported in terms of heat transfer coefficients, mean normalized wall temperatures, and pressure drops.