Evaporation Flow Heat Transfer Characteristics of Stainless Steel and Copper Enhanced Tubes

Xu Wang (), David John Kukulka (), Xiang-Zeng Liu, Wei Feng, Xiao-Bo Wang, Wei Li and Ze-Peng Wang
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Xu Wang: College of Energy and Transportation Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, 306 Zhaowuda Road, Hohhot 010018, China
David John Kukulka: Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, State University of New York College at Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, USA
Xiang-Zeng Liu: Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 99 Songling Road, Qingdao 266061, China
Wei Feng: Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 99 Songling Road, Qingdao 266061, China
Xiao-Bo Wang: Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 99 Songling Road, Qingdao 266061, China
Wei Li: Department of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou 310027, China
Ze-Peng Wang: Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 99 Songling Road, Qingdao 266061, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: An experimental study was undertaken to study the tube-side evaporation heat transfer characteristics of enhanced tubes and compare their performance with that of smooth tubes. These experiments were conducted in order to determine how R410a evaporates inside smooth and enhanced tubes; for a saturation temperature of 279.15 K; with mass flux values that ranged from 50 to 250 kg/(m 2 ·s); for an inlet quality of 0.2 and outlet quality of 0.8. Enhanced tubes evaluated include herringbone (HB) and helix (HX) designs with microgrooves, composite herringbone dimple (HB/D), composite herringbone hydrophobic (HB/HY), and composite EHT (multiple enhancement character) tubes. Experimental results show that the evaporation heat-transfer coefficient in the Cu-EHTb tube was the highest; its performance was closely related to the increased number of nucleation points that are found inside the tube; however, the performance of the SS-EHT-HB/D was not significantly higher than that of a smooth tube. The best overall capacity for evaporative heat transfer is shown in the SS-EHT-HB/HY and SS-EHT-HX tubes; the SS-EHT-HB/D, Cu-EHTa, and Cu-EHTb tubes had the worst overall capacity among all the tested tubes. Additionally, it was determined that previously reported smooth tube models to determine the evaporation heat transfer coefficient can accurately predict the heat transfer inside a smooth tube. However, when trying to utilize smooth tube models for enhanced tubes, the deviation between experimentally determined heat transfer coefficient (HTC) values and those predicted when using smooth tube models to predict enhanced tube results is ±30%; therefore, smooth tube models are not applicable for use with enhanced tubes. Smooth tube models were modified, and after correction, the deviation between experimentally determined heat transfer coefficient (HTC) values and those predicted when using the modified model for use with enhanced tubes is ±10%. Finally, the effect of the thermal resistance of the tube wall on the overall heat transfer coefficient of a stainless steel-enhanced tube is significant and cannot be overlooked.

Keywords: enhanced tube; evaporation; heat transfer coefficient; correlations; thermal resistance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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