Experiments and Correlations for Single-Phase Convective Heat Transfer in Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers

Abstract

This study presents the single-phase heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of R1233zd(e) in a Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger (BPHE). Experiments on single-phase, water-to-water, were initially conducted and a correlation for the convective heat transfer coefficient of the hot water side was derived by applying the modified Wilson plot method. The experiments covered a range of Reynolds number from 80 to 1600 and Prandtl number from 2.8 to 7.0. Subsequent experiments were conducted with water-to-R1233zd(e) covering a refrigerant range of Reynolds number from 700 to 1450 and Prandtl number from 4.5 to 4.9. The results were used to assess existing correlations in the literature predicting the Nusselt number and Fanning friction factor in BPHEs. Finally, new correlations for both the hot (water) and cold (refrigerant) sides are proposed for single-phase heat transfer for this geometry covering the conditions above. The proposed refrigerant heat transfer correlation predicted 97% of all data within the ± 10% error bands at a mean absolute error value of 5.7%.