Heat Transfer in Multiport Minichannel Condensers and Evaporators: Correlation Development and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Condensers and evaporators are widely deployed as surface phase-change heat exchangers in power plants, desalination plants, and large refrigeration systems. Surface condensers and evaporators or shell and tube heat exchangers are frequently used in the process industry. However, compact condensers and evaporators such as multiport minichannel condensers and evaporators are evolving as compact, lightweight, high heat flux, and highly efficient alternatives to the bulky, space-consuming, and relatively less efficient shell and tube designs. This article reports regression analysis and new correlation development from experimental data compiled from horizontal, multiport minichannel condensers and evaporators in the past two decades. Thermo-hydraulic parameters such as the Reynolds number, Prandtl number, boiling number, Martinelli parameter, hydraulic diameter, and other variables were considered to predict the Nusselt number in such condensers and evaporators. Meta-analysis yielded statistically significant results and strongly suggested that multiport minichannels were more suitable for evaporation than condensation.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Vellore Institute of Technology and the University of Pretoria for providing the resources for conducting this research. No conflicts of interest are reported.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yagnavalkya Mukkamala

Yagnavalkya Mukkamala is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology, India. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the same institute in 2008 and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1993. He has published over fourteen articles in various peer-reviewed journals and numerous peer-reviewed conference articles. He has completed several funded projects as a principal investigator for the Government of India and numerous as a student investigator for the US Department of Energy and NASA. He has been cited over a hundred seventy times and has an h-index over seven. His research interests include enhanced heat transfer, design of enhanced heat exchangers, and automotive aerodynamics.

Jaco Dirker

Jaco Dirker is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He received his Ph.D. from Rand Afrikaans University (University of Johannesburg) in 2004. He has published over 44 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 44 peer-reviewed conference articles. He has completed over five research projects, with the most recent project being funded by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom for over R9 million (South African Rand). He is a clean energy and enhanced heat transfer specialist and has supervised several doctoral theses and post-doctoral scholars. He is a registered professional engineer at the Engineering Council of South Africa.