Experimental investigation on condensation heat transfer of R134a on single horizontal copper and stainless steel three-dimensional finned tubes

Condensation heat transfer characteristics of R134a on the horizontal copper and stainless steel three-dimensional (3D) finned tubes are experimentally investigated. The objective is to obtain the basic data for film condensation of R134a on low and high thermal conductivity 3D enhanced tubes. Experiments were carried out at saturation temperatures of 39 °C and wall subcoolings from 3.2 to 10.5 °C. The results show that the condensation heat transfer coefficients on the smooth copper and stainless steel tubes are smaller than those predicted by the Nusselt analysis by 4.4% and 4.8%, respectively. The average enhancement factors provided by the copper and stainless steel 3D finned tubes are 7.86 and 3.34, respectively. The copper 3D finned tube has higher enhancement factor than that of the stainless steel 3D finned tube, due to its high fin and thermal conductivity.