Horizontal convective boiling of R1234yf, R134a, and R450A within a micro-fin tube

• Published in: International journal of refrigeration 2018-04, Vol.88, p.538-551
• Main Authors: Kedzierski, M.A., Kang, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Boilers; Boiling; Computational fluid dynamics; Counterflow; Enhanced heat transfer; Faible GWP; Friction; Friction factor; Global warming; Heat flux; Heat transfer; Heat transfer coefficients; Low-GWP; Micro-ailettes; Micro-fin; Mélanges de frigorigènes; Parallel flow; Refrigerant mixtures; Refrigerants; Studies; Transfert de chaleur amélioré; Ébullition
• ISSN: 0140-7007; 1879-2081
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2018.02.021

•Local convective boiling heat transfer measurements for R134a and two low-GWP refrigerants were presented.•New correlation for convective boiling Nusselt numbers for all the test refrigerants was developed.•Measured Fanning friction factors were also presented.•The heat transfer performance of R450A and R1234yf were, on average, 15% less and 5% less than that of the R134a, respectively. This paper presents local convective boiling heat transfer and Fanning friction factor measurements in a micro-fin tube for R134a and two possible low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant replacements for R134a, namely R1234yf and R450A. Test section heating was achieved with water in either counterflow or in parallel flow with the test refrigerant to provide for a range of heat fluxes for each thermodynamic quality. An existing correlation from the literature for single and multi-component mixtures was shown to not satisfactorily predict the convective boiling measurements for flow qualities greater than 40%. Accordingly, a new correlation was developed specifically for the test fluids of this study so that a fair comparison of the heat transfer performance of the low GWP refrigerants to that of R134a could be made. The new correlation was used to compare the heat transfer coefficient of the three test fluids at the same heat flux, saturated refrigerant temperature, and refrigerant mass flux. The resulting example comparison, for the same operating conditions, showed that the heat transfer coefficient of the multi-component R450A and the single-component R1234yf were, on average, 15% less and 5% less, respectively, than that of the single-component R134a. Friction factor measurements were also compared to predictions from an existing correlation. A new correlation for the friction factor was developed to provide a more accurate prediction. The measurements and the new models are important for the evaluation of potential low-GWP refrigerants replacements for R134a.