Condensation in two phase and desuperheating zone for R1234ze(E), R134a and R32 in horizontal smooth tubes

Rahul Agarwal, Pega Hrnjak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Condensation is usually assumed to begin when the bulk enthalpy reaches the saturated vapor enthalpy, which leads to discontinuity of heat transfer coefficient calculation in modeling. This paper addresses the discontinuity by showing the presence of condensation in desuperheating region when the wall temperature decreases below the saturation temperature at any operating condition. The experiments have been conducted with R134a, R1234ze(E) and R32 for mass fluxes of 100-300 kgm-2 s-1, saturation temperatures of 30°C-50 °C and from x = 0.05 to superheat of 50 °C in a horizontal smooth tube with 6.1 mm inner diameter. R134a is observed to have approximately 10% higher and 20% lower HTC compared to R1234ze(E) and R32 respectively. Cavallini correlation predicted the data within an accuracy of 12% while Kondo-Hrnjak correlation predicted HTC for condensation in de-superheating zone within accuracy of 23%.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)172-183
Number of pages12
JournalInternational Journal of Refrigeration
Volume50
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2015

Keywords

  • Condensation
  • Desuperheating zone
  • Horizontal
  • R1234ze
  • Two-phase

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Building and Construction
  • Mechanical Engineering

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