Flow boiling heat transfer of R1234yf inside a 3.4mm ID microfin tube

This paper presents experimental results about the flow boiling of R1234yf inside a mini microfin tube. R1234yf is a Hydro Fluoro Olefin with a GWP<1, and thus it has recently been proposed as one of the possible substitutes of the common R134a. This study was carried out in a facility located at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale of University of Padova. The microfin tube has an inner diameter at the fin tip of 3.4mm, an outer diameter of 4.0mm, it has 40 fins and each fin is 0.12mm high. From the experimental measurements, it was possible to calculate the heat transfer coefficients, frictional pressure drops, and vapour qualities at the onset of the dryout phenomenon. The mass velocity was varied from 190 to 940kgm-2s-1, the heat flux from 10 to 50kWm-2, the vapour quality from 0.10 to 0.99, and the saturation temperature at the inlet of the test section was kept constant and equal to 30°C. The experimental results were also compared against the values predicted by empirical correlations available in the open literature.