Evaporation heat transfer coefficient and frictional pressure drop of R600a in a micro-fin tube at low mass fluxes and temperatures

Sung Hyun Moon, Dongchan Lee, Minjoong Kim, Yongchan Kim

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    10 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In this study, the evaporation heat transfer characteristics of R600a in micro-fin and smooth tubes are investigated under the operating conditions of domestic refrigerators. The evaporation heat transfer coefficient and frictional pressure drop of R600a were measured and analyzed at various vapor qualities ranging from 0.2 to 0.9, mass fluxes from 20 to 40 kg m−2 s−1, saturation temperatures from −25 to −10 °C, and heat fluxes from 9 to 15 kW m−2. The evaporation heat transfer characteristics of R600a in the micro-fin and smooth tubes were compared in terms of the enhancement factor, penalty factor, and enhancement parameter. The micro-fin tube was preferable under low mass flux conditions, resulting in a higher enhancement parameter. Additionally, because of the poor prediction of the existing correlations, new empirical correlations for the evaporation heat transfer coefficient and frictional pressure drop of R600a in the micro-fin tube were proposed with high accuracy. These results can be used to design evaporators for domestic refrigerators under low saturation temperature and mass flux conditions.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number122769
    JournalInternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
    Volume190
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2022 Jul

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), which is funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy ( MOTIE ) of the Republic of Korea (grant number 20202020800200 ).

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

    Keywords

    • Domestic refrigerator
    • Frictional pressure drop
    • Heat transfer coefficient
    • Micro-fin tube
    • R600a

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Condensed Matter Physics
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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