Heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop during HFC refrigerants vaporisation inside a brazed plate heat exchanger

This paper presents the experimental heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop measured during HFC refrigerant 134a and 410A vaporisation inside a small brazed plate heat exchanger: the effects of heat flux, refrigerant mass flux, saturation temperature and outlet conditions are investigated. The experimental results are reported in terms of refrigerant side heat transfer coefficients and frictional pressure drop. The heat transfer coefficients show high sensitivity both to heat flux and outlet conditions and weak sensitivity to saturation temperature. The frictional pressure drop shows high sensitivity to refrigerant mass flux and weak sensitivity both to saturation temperature and outlet conditions. HFC-410A shows heat transfer coefficients 40-50% higher and frictional pressure drops 30-40% lower than HFC-134a.