Numerical simulation on flow boiling heat transfer of R1234ze(E)/R152a in a horizontal smooth tube

Abstract

The understanding of two-phase flow and heat transfer characteristics of refrigerants in tubes is important for guiding the design and optimization of heat exchangers. Based on the volume of fluid (VOF) multiphase model, this paper established a numerical model of R1234ze(E)/R152a (mass ratio of 0.4/0.6) flow boiling heat transfer in a horizontal smooth copper tube with an inner diameter of 6 mm and a length of 900 mm. The distribution of vapor volume fraction is obtained, and the influence of mass flux, heat flux, saturation temperature, and vapor quality on heat transfer coefficient (HTC) are studied. Bubble flow, plug flow, stratified flow, and wavy flow can be observed during the whole process and the fluid temperature increases along the tube. Local and time-averaged heat transfer coefficients and temperature distribution along the axial direction were studied. And the results indicate that the HTC decreases first and then increases with the augmentation of mass flux while increasing with the rise of heat flux. In addition, the HTC rises along with saturation temperature and decreases along with vapor quality. The largest related standard deviation between the simulation value and the testing data is 6.31%. Thus, the numerical simulation has a high level of accuracy.