Condensation Heat Transfer Characteristics of R134A on Smooth or Finned Horizontal Tube

Abstract

The present work aimed at determining the condensation heat transfer characteristics of R134a on single horizontal smooth and finned tubes under different parameters. These are saturated temperature (36°C and 43°C), inlet coolant temperature (25°C and 30°C) and coolant mass flow rate (100: 800 kg/h) for smooth and finned tubes. In the case of finned tubes, the pitch to height ratio varies from 0.5 to 3.08. Experimental condensation heat transfer characteristics for R134a and R12 on a smooth tube are compared. Experimental results confirmed that the heat flux and the overall heat transfer coefficient for R134a increase when coolant mass flow rate, saturation temperature and fin height increase or as both coolant inlet temperature and fin height decrease. The influence of fin pitch, on condensation heat flux and overall heat transfer, is lower than that of fin height. However, the heat flux and the overall heat transfer coefficient for R134a are correlated with the investigated parameters. Finally, the comparison between R12 and R134a revealed that the condensation heat transfer characteristics for R134a are better than those of R12.