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Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Campus Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Advisor 1

Sunil Mehendale

Advisor 2

V.C. Rao Komaravolu

Committee Member 1

Mahdi Shahbakhti

Abstract

Microfin tubes are used extensively in the HVAC&R applications. Rigorous government regulations and escalating raw material costs demand higher heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) and hence better performance for practical applications. Hence, engineers are constantly trying to improve the performance of thermal systems. With introduction of smaller tubes and newer refrigerants, a lot of tests need to be conducted in the industry. Accurate mathematical modeling can significantly reduce the time and cost of experimentation. Currently, there are many existing models in published literature for predicting the flow boiling HTCs in microfin tubes. However, these models are not accurate enough and the practicing engineer does not have specific guidelines as to which model should be used for a given application. The objective of this research is to propose a new linearized model for predicting HTCs for flow boiling in horizontal microfin tubes. The constants for this new linearized model are based on 2201 experimental data points collected from existing literature spanning a wide range of refrigerants, geometric and operating parameters. In addition, specific recommendations have been provided to give the practicing engineer guidelines for assessing the applicability of the new model as well as existing models.

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