Simulation of binary mixtures condensation using higher order methods

Abstract

The use of refrigerant mixtures as good substitutes to the phased-out pure refrigerants has motivated the study of condensation heat and mass transfer of mixtures in the recent years. This work presents a one-dimensional steadystate non-equilibrium model to study the condensation heat and mass transfer characteristics of binary mixtures inside horizontal smooth tubes. The leastsquares finite element method (LSFEM) with higher order approximations shows larger convergence rate when solving the system of equations. The results are compared with experimental data and show a reasonably good prediction of the heat transfer coefficients and fluid temperatures. It is also found that the mass transfer resistance in the vapor phase is significant to the mixture condensation process, which may not be neglected in both experimental and analytical studies. The sensible heat transfer resistance in vapor is not very important and can be neglected.