Experimental Study on Condensation of R134a Inside Horizontal Inner-Micro-Fin Tubes

An experimental study of condensation heat transfer of R134a on horizontal inner enhanced tubes was conducted. The tested tubes were inner-micro-fin tubes, named tube A and tube B, respectively. The tested pieces were double-pipe condensers. The glycol solution flowed in the space between outer surface of the enhanced tube and inner surface of outer tube. In the experiment, condensing temperature inside the enhanced tube was 51 degrees C, and the flow velocity of glycol solution was 3.35m/s. The inlet temperature of glycol solution changed according to mass velocity of refrigerant, to maintain certain degree of undercooling of outlet refrigerant. The research showed that the condensation heat transfer coefficient of both tubes increased with the increasing mass velocity of refrigerant. when the mass velocity of refrigerant increased from 300kg/m(2)s to 700kg/m(2)s, the condensation heat transfer coefficient in tube A was 1.87% to 6.28% higher than that of tube B. However, the flow resistance of the refrigerant in tube B was 9.56% to 11.05% higher than in tube A. The structure of tube A was superior to that of tube B.