A new model for refrigerant nucleate boiling inside a Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger (BPHE)

This paper presents a new model for refrigerant boiling inside Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers (BPHEs) based on a set of 251 experimental data previously obtained by the authors which includes data points relative to HFC refrigerants (HFC236a, HFC134a, HFC410A), HC refrigerants (HC600a-Isobutane, HC290-Propane, HC1270-Propylene), and also a new low Global Warming Potential (GWP) HFO refrigerant (HFO1234yf). The new model includes specific equations for nucleate and convective boiling. The new model was compared against a set of 505 experimental data obtained by different laboratories which includes HFC134a, HFC410A, HFC507A and HCFC22 data points with different plate geometry. The mean absolute percentage deviation between experimental and calculated data is around 20%.