Heat transfer and pressure drop of condensation of hydrocarbons in tubes

The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop are investigated for propane. Two different mild steel plain tubes and saturation pressures are considered for varying mass flux and vapour quality. The pressure drop is compared to the Friedel-Correlation with two different approaches to determine the friction factor. The first is calculation as proposed by Friedel and the second is through single phase pressure drop investigations. For lower vapour qualities the experimental results are in better agreement with the approach of the calculated friction factor. For higher vapour qualities the experimental friction factor is more precise. The pressure drop increases for a decreasing tube diameter and saturation pressure. The circumferential temperature profile and heat transfer coefficients are shown for a constant vapour quality at varying mass fluxes. The subcooling is highest for the bottom of the tube and lowest for the top. The average subcooling as well as the circumferential deviation decreases for rising mass fluxes. The averaged heat transfer coefficients are compared to the model proposed by Thome and Cavallini. The experimental results are in good agreement with both correlations, however the trend is better described with the correlation from Thome. The experimental heat transfer coefficients are under predicted by Thome and over predicted by Cavallini.