Vapour compression refrigeration (VCR) system was designed, developed, and fabricated for testing alternative refrigerants such as R152a, R600a, R290 and mixture of R290/R600a (50/50% by mass) over presently used R134a with aluminium minichannel condenser. Heater bank was provided for controlling condensation and evaporator temperature along with sub-cooling and superheating temperature by using PID controllers. All the refrigerants are tested for condensation temperature ranging from 40°C to 55°C while evaporation temperature ranges from –15°C to 15°C. Refrigerant charge was reduced 50% with the minichannel condenser over the conventional condenser. Two phase condensation heat transfer coefficient correlation was developed from the experimental data points within ±15% with existing correlations.

alternative refrigerants, R152a, R134a, heat transfer coefficient.

Received: February 9, 2023; Accepted: March 30, 2023; Published: May 18, 2023

How to cite this article: Vijay W. Bhatkar, Mangesh R. Mahajan, Narhar K. Patil and Dhiresh S. Shastri, Development of heat transfer coefficient correlation for minichannel condenser, JP Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 33 (2023), 29-40. http://dx.doi.org/10.17654/0973576323021

This Open Access Article is Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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