Experimental study on condensation heat transfer and pressure drop in horizontal smooth tube for R1234ze(E), R32 and R410A

Experimental condensation heat transfer and pressure drop of R1234ze(E), trans-1, 3, 3, 3-tetrafluoropropene (trans-CHFCHCF3) in a horizontal smooth tube are measured and compared with R32 and the nearly azeotropic HFC refrigerant blend R410A. The effects of mass flux and saturation temperature on heat transfer and pressure drop have been conducted and analyzed. The copper tube with inner diameter of 4.35 mm and length of 3.6 m was used as the test sections. The tests were conducted for mass fluxes varying from 150 to 400 kg (m−2 s−1) and the saturation temperature ranging between 35 and 45 °C over the vapor quality range 0.0–1.0. It was found that the experimental heat transfer performance of R1234ze(E) was about 20–45% lower than R32 but 10–30% higher than R410A for saturation temperature 40 °C. The experimental results are compared with some well-known existing prediction methods of condensation of pure refrigerant.