Heat transfer characteristics of R134a flow boiling in a microfin tube under typical ORC pressures based on comparison with a smooth tube

The experimental investigation on the flow boiling heat transfer of an organic working fluid under typical organic Rankine cycle (ORC) operating conditions is insufficient, which directly affects the performance of the ORC system. In this paper, the flow boiling characteristics of R134a in a horizontal microfin tube were experimentally investigated in the reduced pressure range 0.6 ∼ 0.9. The general convection heat transfer characteristics of R134a flow boiling, along with the effects of heat flux, mass flux, pressure, and rewetting conditions, were investigated in a microfin tube and compared with that in a smooth tube. Results show that the main flow regime in the microfin tube under typical ORC operating pressures is the stratified flow with dry-out occurring at the top surface. The microfin effectively enhances the heat transfer and restrains the wall temperature separation through inducing strong helical flow due to buoyancy and centrifugal forces. With the heat flux increasing, the micro-fin strengthens the nucleate boiling by enhancing the vaporization cores, leading to more pronounced heat transfer enhancement compared with that in the smooth tube. The heat transfer on the bottom surface shows almost negligible sensitivity to variations in mass flux. However, in regions of high vapor quality, an increase in mass flux results in higher heat transfer coefficients on the top surface. Due to the interaction between intensified nucleate boiling and weakened gas convection when pressure is increased, it slightly affects the heat transfer coefficient. Unlike the smooth tube, the rewetting in the microfin tube can be maintained within a larger range of vapor quality due to the spiral flow caused by the micro-fin.