Abstract
M.Ing.
The Montreal Protocol led to the phasing-out of ozone layer depleting refrigerants and replacing them with more environmentally friendly refrigerants, which in many cases caused heat transfer degradation in heat exchanger equipment. To make up for the heat transfer degradation, there was a need for the application of heat transfer enhancement techniques. One such technique is the use of micro-fin tubes as opposed to traditional smooth tubes.
The purpose of this study is to develop a flow regime map for the condensation of R-22,
R-407C and R-134a in a herringbone micro-fin tube. It was perceived that with the knowledge of flow patterns inside the tube and especially the annular-to-intermittent transition, it is possible to perform improved analyses of the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics.
Experimental and analytical work was performed to investigate the flow regimes during condensation of the refrigerants in smooth, helical micro-fin and herringbone
micro-fin tubes at an average saturation temperature of 40oC, with mass fluxes ranging from
300 to 800 kg/m2s. Condensation occurred in tube-in-tube type condensers with cooling water flowing in the annulus and the refrigerant in the inner tubes. The condensers consisted of eight sub-sections to allow for the acquisition of sectional heat transfer and pressure data.
Various criteria were considered in order to generate flow regime maps. The Thome flow regime transition criterion was used and complemented with visually-observed and photographic imaging, as well as the objective power spectral density distributions of the pressure signals of the condensing refrigerants.
The observed flow regimes were mainly annular flow and intermittent flow. Stratified-wavy flow was observed at low mass fluxes and low vapour qualities. There were notable similarities in the flow pattern between the smooth and micro-fin tubes. However, the experimental results show that the transition from annular to intermittent flow regimes occurred at average vapour quality values of 0.26, 0.29 and 0.48 for the herringbone micro-fin, the helical micro-fin and smooth tubes respectively.
The combined analyses assisted in adapting the helical micro-fin tube condensing flow pattern map, to ensure its application in accurately predicting herringbone micro-fin tube condensation. The new transition criterion effectively predicts the delay in transition from annular to intermittent flow for all three refrigerants, condensing in the herringbone micro-fin tube.