Abstract
In present work, numerical simulation has been performed using the volume of fluid method under steady-state condition to find the effect of various operating parameters, viz. mass flux, vapor quality and effective thermal conductivity on heat transfer coefficient using refrigerants R1234ze and R1234yf. The numerical simulation has been carried out using various turbulence models, viz. the standard k − ε model, the standard k − ω model and the low-Re SST k − ω model. The model having minimum deviation with experimental results is considered for subsequent study. The hydraulic diameter and length of mini-channel considered are 1.085 and 420 mm, respectively. The vapor quality has been varied from 0.14 to 0.95, and mass flux has been varied from 200 to 800 kg/m2 s keeping saturation temperature of 313 K. The heat transfer coefficient results of hydrofluoroolfine refrigerants R1234yf and R1234ze have been compared with hydrofluorocarbons refrigerant R134a in order to check the suitability of new hydrofluoroolfine refrigerants as a replacement to hydrofluorocarbons refrigerant. It has been observed from the flow regime map proposed by Sardesai et al. (Chem Eng Sci 36:1173–1180, 1981) that majority results of heat transfer coefficient for refrigerants R1234ze and R1234yf fall in the annular flow regime. It has been observed that the effective thermal conductivity may play vital role in the local heat transfer rate compared with the liquid film thickness.
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Abbreviations
- C p :
-
Specific heat at constant pressure, kJ/kg K
- C v :
-
Specific heat at constant volume, kJ/kg K
- D, d :
-
Hydraulic channel diameter, mm
- F :
-
Frictional
- g :
-
Gravitational acceleration, m/s2
- G :
-
Mass flux, kg/m2 s
- h :
-
Heat transfer coefficient, W/m2K
- h lv :
-
Latent heat of condensation, kJ/kg
- k :
-
Thermal conductivity, W/m K
- L:
-
Characteristic Length, m
- \(\dot{m}\) :
-
Mass flow rate, kg/s
- Nu:
-
Nusselt Number
- p :
-
Pressure, bar
- Pr:
-
Prandtl Number
- P red :
-
Reduced pressure
- q :
-
Heat flux, kW/m2
- Re:
-
Reynolds number
- S :
-
Source term
- T :
-
Temperature, °C
- T sat :
-
Saturation temperature, °C
- T wall :
-
Wall temperature, °C
- t :
-
Thickness, mm
- u :
-
Velocity, m/s
- v :
-
Specific volume, m3/kg
- We:
-
Weber number
- X tt :
-
Martinelli parameter
- x :
-
Vapor quality
- CFD:
-
Computational fluid dynamics
- CHE:
-
Compact heat exchanger
- CSF:
-
Continuum surface force
- ETC:
-
Effective thermal conductivity
- FPD:
-
Frictional pressure drop
- GWP:
-
Global warming potential
- HD:
-
Hydraulic diameter
- HTC:
-
Heat transfer coefficient
- HT:
-
Heat transfer
- HFO:
-
Hydrofluoroolfine
- LFT:
-
Liquid film thickness
- ST:
-
Surface tension
- TKE:
-
Turbulent kinetic energy
- VOF:
-
Volume of fluid
- δ :
-
Liquid film thickness, μm
- ε :
-
Rate of turbulent dissipation, m2/m3
- σ :
-
Surface tension, N/m
- J :
-
Super facial velocity, m/s
- ƒ:
-
Friction factor
- Ʈ :
-
Shear stress, N/m2
- μ :
-
Dynamic viscosity, N s/m2
- \(\vartheta\) :
-
Kinematic viscosity, m2/s
- ρ :
-
Density of condensate film, kg/m3
- α :
-
Void fraction or Volume fraction
- Γ:
-
Effective thermal diffusivity, m2/s
- \(j_{{\text{g}}}^{*}\) :
-
Non- dimensional gas velocity
- \(\omega\) :
-
Specific dissipation rate, 1/s
- annu:
-
Annular
- BC:
-
Gravity-driven natural convection
- cond:
-
Condensation
- e:
-
Equivalent
- exp:
-
Experimental
- g:
-
Gas
- go:
-
Gas only
- h:
-
Hydraulic
- H :
-
Homogeneous
- i :
-
Inside
- k :
-
Denotes kth phase
- l:
-
Liquid
- lo:
-
Liquid only
- m :
-
For mixed region
- o :
-
Outside
- pred:
-
Predicted
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Acknowledgements
The research work is a supported by MHRD of Govt. of India and S. V. National Institute of Technology, Surat, India, under the heading of MED/RAC Lab./Annual Plan/0816/2638/2017-18.
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Patel, T., Parekh, A.D. Condensation of Refrigerant in a Horizontal Circular Mini-Channel using HFO Refrigerant: A numerical study. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Mech Eng 46, 359–377 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-021-00428-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-021-00428-2