Experimental study on heat transfer and flow pattern transition for R1233zd/FC72 mixtures across tube bundles

Abstract

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the heat transfer and two-phase flow patterns of pure R1233zd and non-azeotropic R1233zd/FC72 mixtures (0.75/0.25, 0.5/0.5, and 0.25/0.75 by mass) across tube bundles. The test section of tube bundles was transparent to observe the flow pattern. The flow boiling heat transfer was measured. The experiments were carried out with vapor qualities of 0.1–0.9, mass flow rates of 3–5 kg/h and heat fluxes of 3000–7000 W/m2. Falling film flow, bubbly flow, bubbly-shear flow, and shear flow were observed. The flow pattern transition maps were presented for various conditions. Increasing the mass fraction of the volatile component R1233zd causes the flow pattern transitions occurring at lower vapor qualities. The heat transfer coefficient of mixtures is lower than that of pure R1233zd. With increasing vapor quality, the heat transfer coefficient increases for both pure R1233zd and the mixture with a R1233zd mass fraction of 75 %. However, for mixtures with R1233zd mass fractions of 50 % and 25 %, the heat transfer coefficient initially increases and then decreases with increasing vapor quality. For vapor qualities higher than 0.5, increasing the volatile component, R1233zd, significantly enhances heat transfer. The heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing mass flow rate and heat flux. The experimental data were compared with correlations in the literature with poor agreement. An improved heat transfer correlation for non-azeotropic mixtures flowing across tube bundles was proposed, which effectively predicted the experimental data.