Flow boiling of R452A: Heat transfer data, dry-out characteristics and a correlation

This paper presents an experimental investigation on two-phase heat transfer and dry-out occurrence for refrigerant R452A in a single horizontal circular stainless-steel tube having an internal diameter of 6.0 mm. The effects of mass flux (from 150 to 600 kg/m2s), saturation (bubble) temperature (from 23 to 55 °C) and heat flux (from 10 to 65 kW/m2) are investigated and discussed. Heat transfer coefficient and dry-out vapor quality data are then compared to R404A results in the same operating conditions, observing that the nucleate boiling contribution of the new blend is penalized by its very high temperature glide during evaporation. The assessment of some dry-out and flow boiling heat transfer coefficient prediction methods is finally carried-out and a correction factor on the nucleate boiling term is proposed to take into account the negative effect of the temperature glide difference on the mass diffusion in the liquid. By implementing this modification on two chosen asymptotic models, the statistical error analysis is considerably improved.