Estimation of condensation heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of R1234yf inside a brazed plate serrated fin heat exchanger☆

Compact heat exchangers with serrated fins using a low GWP refrigerant R1234yf can be employed for two-phase condensation applications in various fields such as automobiles, aerospace and chemical industries. In this paper, experiments on condensation of refrigerant R1234yf were conducted to investigate the heat transfer coefficients and frictional pressure drops in a compact heat exchanger (brazed plate serrated fin). The significance of refrigerant mass flux and saturation temperature on condensation heat transfer coefficients and frictional pressure drops of R1234yf were studied. The influence of refrigerant specific kinetic energy on frictional pressure drops was also presented. The present experimental data of compact heat exchanger (brazed plate serrated fin) for refrigerant R1234yf were used to derived the suitable correlations for condensation heat transfer coefficients and frictional pressure drops. Further, the present study reports the comparison of heat transfer coefficient and frictional pressure drops of R1234yf with R134a, as R1234yf is the suitable substitute for R134a. It was observed that, for a mass flux range of 16 to 53 kg/m2s, condensation heat transfer coefficient and frictional pressure drop of R134a were 10-19 % and 14-19 % higher, respectively than R1234yf.