Condensing heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of hydrocarbon refrigerants

This paper presents the experimental results of condensing heat transfer coefficients and pressure gradients of HC refrigerants (e.g. R-1270, R-290 and R-600a) and R-22 in horizontal double pipe heat exchangers, having two different internal diameters of 12.70 mm and 9.52 mm (OD), respectively. Both the local condensing heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops (inside the tube) of hydrocarbon refrigerants were higher than R-22. The average condensing heat transfer coefficient increased with the mass flux. The experimental heat transfer coefficients agreed with the correlations of Shah, Travis and Cavallini–Zecchin’s to within ±20%. These results can be useful in the design of new heat exchangers involving hydrocarbon refrigerants for future air-conditioning systems.