An Experimental Study of Convective Boiling in a Compact Serrated Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger

Abstract

The experimental apparatus used to study boiling of a pure refrigerant (propane) during a vertical upflow inside a compact serrated plate-fin exchanger is presented in this paper. The experimental conditions perfectly reflect those occurring in industrial applications. The maximal heat rate exchanged between both fluids is equal to 70 kW. The propane evaporates in the exchanger and the outlet vapour quality is between 0.15 and 0.9. Tests are carried out with propane mass fluxes between 12 and 71 kg m m 2 s m 1 for pressures between 0.46 and 1.17 MPa. From the measurements carried out on the loop, the data processing allows us to deduce the propane local boiling heat transfer coefficients. An analysis of the measured convective boiling heat transfer coefficients, without nucleate boiling, shows the separate effects of quality, mass flux, and pressure. The trends observed have been identified as characteristic of slug flow. They are very different from those of the annular flow regime.