Shell-side condensation heat transfer of R-134a - part III: comparison with R-12

Shell-side condensation heat transfer coefficient data are compared for refrigerants R-134a and R-12 on tube bundles constructed from two finned-tube geometries and two enhanced-tube geometries. The tube bundles tested are five rows wide by five rows deep and have a staggered tube arrangement with a horizontal pitch of 22.2 mm (0.875 in.) and a vertical pitch of 19.1 mm (0.75 in.). The data were obtained at a refrigerant saturation temperature of 35C (95F) over a bundle heat flux range of 18,000 to 40,000 W/m2 (5,700 to 12,700 Btu/[h ft2]). Average condensing heat transfer coefficients for the bundle as well as the middle tube of each row were calculated. The data show that R-134a performs better than R-12 on all four tube geometries. The data also show that for a given tube bundle, the row-to-row behavior of both refrigerants is similar.

Shell-side condensation heat transfer of R-134a - part III: comparison with R-12 Conference Paper