R&ac lecture 23

Lesson
23
Condensers &
Evaporators
Version 1 ME, IIT Kharagpur 1

The specific objectives of this lesson are to:
1. Classify refrigerant evaporators as natural convection or forced convection
type, flooded or dry type, refrigerant flow inside the tubes or outside the tubes
(Section 23.1)
2. Discuss salient features of natural convection coils (Section 23.2)
3. Discuss salient features of flooded evaporators (Section 23.3)
4. Discuss salient features of shell-and-tube type evaporators (Section 23.4)
5. Discuss salient features of shell-and-coil evaporator (Section 23.5)
6. Discuss salient features of double pipe evaporators (Section 23.6)
7. Discuss salient features of Baudelot evaporators (Section 23.7)
8. Discuss salient features of direct expansion fin-and-tube type evaporators
(Section 23.8)
9. Discuss salient features of plate surface evaporators (Section 23.9)
10. Discuss salient features of plate type evaporators (Section 23.10)
11. Discuss thermal design aspects of refrigerant evaporators (Section 23.11)
12. Discuss enhancement of boiling heat transfer (Section 23.12)
13. Discuss the concept of Wilson’s plot (Section 23.13)
At the end of the lecture, the student should be able to:
1. Classify refrigerant evaporators and discuss the salient features of different
types of evaporators
2. Perform thermal design calculations on refrigerant evaporators using various
heat transfer correlations presented in the lecture
3. Use Wilson’s plots and determine external and internal heat transfer
coefficients from given experimental data and specifications of evaporators and
condensers
Introduction:
An evaporator, like condenser is also a heat exchanger. In an evaporator,
the refrigerant boils or evaporates and in doing so absorbs heat from the
substance being refrigerated. The name evaporator refers to the evaporation
process occurring in the heat exchanger.
23.1.Classification
There are several ways of classifying the evaporators depending upon the
heat transfer process or refrigerant flow or condition of heat transfer surface.
23.1.1. Natural and Forced Convection Type
The evaporator may be classified as natural convection type or forced
convection type. In forced convection type, a fan or a pump is used to circulate

the fluid being refrigerated and make it flow over the heat transfer surface, which
is cooled by evaporation of refrigerant. In natural convection type, the fluid being
cooled flows due to natural convection currents arising out of density difference
caused by temperature difference. The refrigerant boils inside tubes and
evaporator is located at the top. The temperature of fluid, which is cooled by it,
decreases and its density increases. It moves downwards due to its higher
density and the warm fluid rises up to replace it.
23.1.2. Refrigerant Flow Inside or Outside Tubes
The heat transfer phenomenon during boiling inside and outside tubes is
very different; hence, evaporators are classified as those with flow inside and
outside tubes.
In natural convection type evaporators and some other evaporators, the
refrigerant is confined and boils inside the tubes while the fluid being refrigerated
flows over the tubes. The direct expansion coil where the air is directly cooled in
contact with the tubes cooled by refrigerant boiling inside is an example of forced
convection type of evaporator where refrigerant is confined inside the tubes.
In many forced convection type evaporators, the refrigerant is kept in a
shell and the fluid being chilled is carried in tubes, which are immersed in
refrigerant. Shell and tube type brine and water chillers are mainly of this kind.
23.1.3. Flooded and Dry Type
The third classification is flooded type and dry type. Evaporator is said to
be flooded type if liquid refrigerant covers the entire heat transfer surface. This
type of evaporator uses a float type of expansion valve. An evaporator is called
dry type when a portion of the evaporator is used for superheating the refrigerant
vapour after its evaporation.
23.2.Natural Convection type evaporator coils
These are mainly used in domestic refrigerators and cold storages. When
used in cold storages, long lengths of bare or finned pipes are mounted near the
ceiling or along the high sidewalls of the cold storages. The refrigerant from
expansion valve is fed to these tubes. The liquid refrigerant evaporates inside the
tubes and cools the air whose density increases. The high-density air flows
downwards through the product in the cold storage. The air becomes warm by
the time it reaches the floor as heat is transferred from the product to air. Some
free area like a passage is provided for warm air to rise up. The same passage is
used for loading and unloading the product into the cold storage.
The advantages of such natural convection coils are that the coil takes no
floor space and it also requires low maintenance cost. It can operate for long

periods without defrosting the ice formed on it and it does not require special skill
to fabricate it. Defrosting can be done easily (e.g. by scraping) even when the
plant is running. These are usually welded at site. However, the disadvantage is
that natural convection heat transfer coefficient is very small hence very long
lengths are required which may cause excessive refrigerant side pressure drops
unless parallel paths are used. The large length requires a larger quantity of
refrigerant than the forced convection coils. The large quantity of refrigerant
increases the time required for defrosting, since before the defrosting can start all
the liquid refrigerant has to be pumped out of the evaporator tubes. The pressure
balancing also takes long time if the system trips or is to be restarted after load
shedding. Natural convection coils are very useful when low air velocities and
minimum dehumidification of the product is required. Household refrigerators,
display cases, walk-in-coolers, reach-in refrigerators and obviously large cold
storages are few of its applications. Sufficient space should be provided between
the evaporator and ceiling to permit the air circulation over the top of the coil.
Baffles are provided to separate the warm air and cold air plumes. Single ceiling
mounted is used for rooms of width less than 2.5 m. For rooms with larger widths
more evaporator coils are used. The refrigerant tubes are made of steel or
copper. Steel tubes are used for ammonia and in large capacity systems.
23.3.Flooded Evaporator
This is typically used in large ammonia systems. The refrigerant enters a
surge drum through a float type expansion valve. The compressor directly draws
the flash vapour formed during expansion. This vapour does not take part in
refrigeration hence its removal makes the evaporator more compact and
pressured drop due to this is also avoided. The liquid refrigerant enters the
evaporator from the bottom of the surge drum. This boils inside the tubes as heat
is absorbed. The mixture of liquid and vapour bubbles rises up along the
evaporator tubes. The vapour is separated as it enters the surge drum. The
remaining unevaporated liquid circulates again in the tubes along with the
constant supply of liquid refrigerant from the expansion valve. The mass flow rate
in the evaporator tubes is m.f where is the mass flow rate through the
expansion valve and to the compressor. The term f is called recirculation factor.
Let x
m
4 be the quality of mixture after the expansion valve and x be the quality of
mixture after boiling in the tubes as shown in Figure 23.1. In steady state mass
flow rate from expansion valve is same as the mass flow rate to the compressor
hence mass conservation gives
..
4 mm.f.xm.x =+ (23.1)
x
)x1(
f 4−
=∴ (23.2)

For x4 = x = 0.25, for example, the circulation factor is 3, that is mass flow
rate through the evaporator is three times that through the compressor. Since,
liquid refrigerant is in contact with whole of evaporator surface, the refrigerant
side heat transfer coefficient will be very high. Sometimes a liquid refrigerant
pump may also be used to further increase the heat transfer coefficient. The
lubricating oil tends to accumulate in the flooded evaporator hence an effective
oil separator must be used immediately after the compressor.
Flooded type evaporator
Surge tank
Float valve
To compressor
f.m
m
m
(x4)
(x)
f.m
Fig.23.1. Schematic of a flooded evaporator

23.4. Shell-and-Tube Liquid Chillers
The shell-and-tube type evaporators are very efficient and require
minimum floor space and headspace. These are easy to maintain, hence they
are very widely used in medium to large capacity refrigeration systems. The
shell-and-tube evaporators can be either dry type or flooded type. As the name
implies, a shell-and-tube evaporator consists of a shell and a large number of
straight tubes arranged parallel to each other. In dry expansion type, the
refrigerant flows through the tubes while in flooded type the refrigerant is in the
shell. A pump circulates the chilled water or brine. The shell diameters range
from 150 mm to 1.5 m. The number of tubes may be less than 50 to several
thousands and length may be between 1.5 m to 6 m. Steel tubes are used with
ammonia while copper tubes are used with freons. Ammonia has a very high
heat transfer coefficient while freons have rather poor heat transfer coefficient
hence fins are used on the refrigerant side. Dry expansion type uses fins inside
the tubes while flooded type uses fins outside the tube. Dry-expansion type
require less charge of refrigerant and have positive lubricating oil return. These
are used for small and medium capacity refrigeration plants with capacity ranging
from 2 TR to 350 TR. The flooded type evaporators are available in larger
capacities ranging from 10 TR to thousands of TR.
23.4.1 Flooded Type Shell-and-Tube Evaporator
Figure 23.2 shows a flooded type of shell and tube type liquid chiller
where the liquid (usually brine or water) to be chilled flows through the tubes in
double pass just like that in shell and tube condenser. The refrigerant is fed
through a float valve, which maintains a constant level of liquid refrigerant in the
shell. The shell is not filled entirely with tubes as shown in the end view of Fig.
27.2. This is done to maintain liquid refrigerant level below the top of the shell so
that liquid droplets settle down due to gravity and are not carried by the vapour
leaving the shell. If the shell is completely filled with tubes, then a surge drum is
provided after the evaporator to collect the liquid refrigerant.
Shell-and-tube evaporators can be either single pass type or multipass
type. In multipass type, the chilled liquid changes direction in the heads. Shell-
and-tube evaporators are available in vertical design also. Compared to
horizontal type, vertical shell-and-tube type evaporators require less floor area.
The chilled water enters from the top and flows downwards due to gravity and is
then taken to a pump, which circulates it to the refrigeration load. At the inlet to
tubes at the top a special arrangement introduces swirling action to increase the
heat transfer coefficient.

Refrigerant in
Refrigerant out
Water
in
Water
out
Fig.23.2: Schematic of a flooded type shell-and-tube evaporator
23.4.2. Direct expansion type, Shell-and-Tube Evaporator
Figure 23.3 shows a liquid chiller with refrigerant flowing through the tubes
and water flowing through the shell. A thermostatic expansion valve feeds the
refrigerant into the tubes through the cover on the left. It may flow in several
passes through the dividers in the covers of the shell on either side. The liquid to
be chilled flows through the shell around the baffles. The presence of baffles
turns the flow around creating some turbulence thereby increasing the heat
transfer coefficient. Baffles also prevent the short-circuiting of the fluid flowing in
the shell. This evaporator is of dry type since some of the tubes superheat the
vapour. To maintain the chilled liquid velocity so as to obtain good heat transfer
coefficient, the length and the spacing of segmental baffles is varied. Widely
spaced baffles are used when the flow rate is high or the liquid viscosity is high.
The number of passes on the refrigerant side are decided by the partitions on the
heads on the two sides of the heat exchanger. Some times more than one circuit
is also provided. Changing the heads can change the number of passes. It
depends upon the chiller load and the refrigerant velocity to be maintained in the
heat exchanger.
23.5.Shell-and-Coil type evaporator
These are of smaller capacity than the shell and tube chillers. These are
made of one or more spiral shaped bare tube coils enclosed in a welded steel
shell. It is usually dry-expansion type with the refrigerant flowing in the tube and
chilled liquid in the shell. In some cases the chiller operates in flooded mode also
with refrigerant in the shell and chilled water flowing thorough the spiral tube. The
water in the shell gives a large amount of thermal storage capacity called hold-up

capacity. This type is good for small but highly infrequent peak loads. It is used
for cooling drinking water in stainless steel tanks to maintain sanitary conditions.
It is also used in bakeries and photographic laboratories.
When the refrigerant is in the shell that is in flooded mode it is called
instantaneous liquid chiller. This type does not have thermal storage capacity,
the liquid must be instantaneously chilled whenever required. In the event of
freeze up the water freezes in the tube, which causes bursting of the tubes since
water expands upon freezing. When water is in the shell there is enough space
for expansion of water if the freezing occurs. The flooded types are not
recommended for any application where the temperature of chilled liquid may be
below 3o
C.
Water inlet Water outlet
Refrigerant
inlet
Refrigerant
outlet
Baffles
Fig.23.3: Schematic of a direct expansion type, Shell-and-Tube evaporator
23.6.Double pipe type evaporator
This consists of two concentric tubes, the refrigerant flows through the
annular passage while the liquid being chilled flows through the inner tube in
counter flow. One design is shown in Fig. 23.4 in which the outer horizontal tubes
are welded to vertical header tubes on either side. The inner tubes pass through
the headers and are connected together by 180o
bends. The refrigerant side is
welded hence there is minimum possibility of leakage of refrigerant. These may

be used in flooded as well as dry mode. This requires more space than other
designs. Shorter tubes and counter flow gives good heat transfer coefficient. It
has to be insulated from outside since the refrigerant flows in the outer annulus
which may be exposed to surroundings if insulation is not provided.
Refrigerant
outlet
Water
inlet
Water
outlet
Refrigerant
inlet
Fig.23.4: Schematic of a double pipe type evaporator
23.7.Baudelot type evaporators
This type of evaporator consists of a large number of horizontal pipes
stacked one on top of other and connected together to by headers to make single
or multiple circuits. The refrigerant is circulated inside the tubes either in flooded
or dry mode. The liquid to be chilled flows in a thin layer over the outer surface of
the tubes. The liquid flows down by gravity from distributor pipe located on top of
the horizontal tubes as shown in Figure 23.5. The liquid to be chilled is open to
atmosphere, that is, it is at atmospheric pressure and its aeration may take place
during cooling. This is widely used for cooling milk, wine and for chilling water for
carbonation in bottling plants. The liquid can be chilled very close to its freezing
temperature since freezing outside the tubes will not damage the tubes. Another
advantage is that the refrigerant circuit can be split into several parts, which

permit a part of the cooling done by cold water and then chilling by the
refrigerant.
Refrigerant
outlet
Refrigerant
inlet
Milk
inlet
Milk
outlet
Distributor
Header
Fig.23.5: Schematic of a Baudelot type evaporator for chilling of milk
23.8. Direct expansion fin-and-tube type
These evaporators are used for cooling and dehumidifying the air directly
by the refrigerant flowing in the tubes. Similar to fin-and-tube type condensers,
these evaporator consists of coils placed in a number of rows with fins mounted
on it to increase the heat transfer area. Various fin arrangements are used.
Tubes with individual spiral straight fins or crimpled fins welded to it are used in
some applications like ammonia. Plate fins accommodating a number of rows are
used in air conditioning applications with ammonia as well as synthetic
refrigerants such as fluorocarbon based refrigerants.
The liquid refrigerant enters from top through a thermostatic expansion
valve as shown in Fig. 23.6. This arrangement makes the oil return to
compressor better rather than feeding refrigerant from the bottom of the coil.
When evaporator is close to the compressor, a direct expansion coil is used

since the refrigerant lines are short, refrigerant leakage will be less and pressure
drop is small. If the air-cooling is required away from the compressor, it is
preferable to chill water and pump it to air-cooling coil to reduce the possibility of
refrigerant leakage and excessive refrigerant pressure drop, which reduces the
COP.
Refrigerant
inlet
Refrigerant
outlet
Fig.23.6: Schematic of a direct expansion fin-and-tube type
The fin spacing is kept large for larger tubes and small for smaller tubes. 50 to
500 fins per meter length of the tube are used in heat exchangers. In
evaporators, the atmospheric water vapour condenses on the fins and tubes
when the metal temperature is lower than dew point temperature. On the other
hand frost may form on the tubes if the surface temperature is less than 0o
C.
Hence for low temperature coils a wide spacing with about 80 to 200 fins per m is
used to avoid restriction of flow passage due to frost formation. In air-conditioning
applications a typical fin spacing of 1.8 mm is used. Addition of fins beyond a
certain value will not increase the capacity of evaporator by restricting the airflow.
The frost layer has a poor thermal conductivity hence it decreases the overall
heat transfer coefficient apart from restricting the flow. Therefore, for applications
in freezers below 0o
C, frequent defrosting of the evaporator is required.
23.9.Plate Surface Evaporators
These are also called bonded plate or roll-bond type evaporators. Two flat
sheets of metal (usually aluminum) are embossed in such a manner that when
these are welded together, the embossed portion of the two plates makes a
passage for refrigerant to flow. This type is used in household refrigerators.
Figure 23.7 shows the schematic of a roll-bond type evaporator.

In another type of plate surface evaporator, a serpentine tube is placed
between two metal plates such that plates press on to the tube. The edges of the
plates are welded together. The space between the plates is either filled with a
eutectic solution or evacuated. The vacuum between the plates and atmospheric
pressure outside, presses the plates on to the refrigerant carrying tubes making a
very good contact between them. If eutectic solution is filled into the void space,
this also makes a good thermal contact between refrigerant carrying tubes and
the plates. Further, it provides an additional thermal storage capacity during off-
cycle and load shedding to maintain a uniform temperature. These evaporators
are commonly used in refrigerated trucks. Figure 23.8 shows an embedded tube,
plate surface evaporator.
A
A
Section A-A
Refrigerant in
Refrigerant out
Fig.23.7: Schematic of a roll-bond type evaporator
AA
Refrigerant in Refrigerant out
Section A-A
Version 1 ME, IIT Kharagpur 12Eutectic
solution
Fig.23.8: Schematic of an embedded tube, plate surface evaporator

23.10. Plate type evaporators:
Plate type evaporators are used when a close temperature approach (0.5
K or less) between the boiling refrigerant and the fluid being chilled is required.
These evaporators are widely used in dairy plants for chilling milk, in breweries
for chilling beer. These evaporators consist of a series of plates (normally made
of stainless steel) between which alternately the milk or beer to be cooled and
refrigerant flow in counterflow direction. The overall heat transfer coefficient of
these plate type evaporators is very high (as high as 4500 W/m2
K in case of
ammonia/water and 3000 W/m2
.K in case of R 22/water). In addition they also
require very less refrigerant inventory for the same capacity (about 10 percent or
even less than that of shell-and-tube type evaporators). Another important
advantage when used in dairy plants and breweries is that, it is very easy to
clean the evaporator and assemble it back as and when required. The capacity
can be increased or decreased very easily by adding or removing plates. Hence
these evaporators are finding widespread use in a variety of applications. Figure
23.9 shows the schematic of a plate type evaporator.
Fig.23.9: Schematic of a plate type evaporator

23.11. Thermal design of evaporators:
Compared to the design of refrigerant condensers, the design of
refrigerant evaporators is more complex. The complexity arises due to the
following factors:
a) On the refrigerant side, the heat transfer coefficient varies widely when
evaporation takes place in tubes due to changing flow regimes. Accurate
estimation of heat transfer coefficient is thus difficult
b) On the external fluid side, if the external fluid is air (as in air conditioning
and cold storage applications), in addition to sensible heat transfer, latent
heat transfer also takes place as moisture in air may condense or even
freeze on the evaporator surface. The evaporator surface may be partly
dry and partly wet, depending upon the operating conditions. Hence, mass
transfer has to be considered in the design. If frost formation due to
freezing of moisture takes place, then heat transfer resistance varies
continuously with time.
c) The lubricating oil gets separated in the evaporator tubes due to low
miscibility of oil at evaporator temperature and pressure. The separation of
oil affects both heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics. A minimum
refrigerant velocity must be provided for oil carry over in direct expansion
type evaporators.
d) Compared to condenser, refrigerant pressure drop in evaporator is more
critical as it has significant influence on the performance of the
refrigeration system. Hence, multiple circuits may have to be used in large
systems to reduce pressure drops. Refrigerant velocity has to be
optimized taking pressure drop and oil return characteristics into account.
e) Under part-load applications, there is a possibility of evaporator flooding
and compressor slugging. This aspect has to be considered at the time of
evaporator design.
Estimation of heat transfer area and overall heat transfer coefficients
For plate fin type evaporators, the expressions of various heat transfer
areas are similar to those given for the air-cooled condensers. The expression for
overall heat transfer coefficient is also similar to that of condenser as long as no
phase change (e.g. moisture condensation or freezing) takes place. However, as
mentioned in air-cooled evaporators the possibility of moisture
condensing/freezing on the evaporator surface must be considered unlike in
condensers where the heat transfer on airside is only sensible. This requires
simultaneous solution of heat and mass transfer equations on the airside to
arrive at expressions for overall heat transfer coefficient and mean temperature
difference. The efficiency of the fins will also be affected by the presence of
condensed layer of water or a frozen layer of ice. Expressions have been derived
for overall heat transfer coefficient, mean temperature difference and fin
efficiency of fin-and-tube type evaporators in which air undergoes cooling and

dehumidification. The analysis of cooling and dehumidification coils requires
knowledge of psychrometry and is obviously much more complicated compared
to evaporators in which the external fluid does not undergo phase change. In this
lecture, only the evaporators wherein the external fluid does not undergo any
phase change are considered. Readers should refer to advanced books on
refrigeration for the design aspects of cooling and dehumidifying coils.
Estimation of heat transfer coefficients:
a) Air side heat transfer coefficients in fin-and-tube type evaporators:
If air undergoes only sensible cooling as it flows over the evaporator
surface (i.e., dry evaporator), then the correlations presented for air cooled
condensers for heat transfer coefficients on finned (e.g. Kays & London
correlation) and bare tube surface (e.g. Grimson’s correlation) can be used for air
cooled evaporator also. However, if air undergoes cooling and dehumidification,
then analysis will be different and correlations will also be different. These
aspects will be discussed in a later chapter.
b) Liquid side heat transfer coefficients:
Liquid flowing in tubes:
When liquids such as water, brine, milk etc. flow through tubes without
undergoing any phase changes, the correlations presented earlier for
condensers (e.g. Dittus-Boelter, Sieder-Tate) can be used for evaporator also.
Liquid flowing in a shell:
In direct expansion type, shell-and-tube evaporators refrigerant flows
through the tubes, while water or other liquids flow through the shell. Analytical
prediction of single phase heat transfer coefficient on shell side is very complex
due to the complex fluid flow pattern in the presence of tubes and baffles. The
heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop depends not only on the fluid flow rate
and its properties, but also on the arrangement of tubes and baffles in the shell.
Several correlations have been suggested to estimate heat transfer coefficients
and pressure drops on shell side. A typical correlation suggested by Emerson is
given below:
14.0
w
3.06.0
d
f
PrReC
k
hd
Nu ⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
μ
μ
== (23.3)
where constant C depends on the geometry, i.e, on the arrangement of the
tubes, baffles etc.

In the above expression the Reynolds number Re s defined as:d i
μ
=
Gd
Red (23.4)
where G is the mass velocity which is equal to the mass flow rate divided by the
characteristic flow area (kg/m2
.s). From the expression for Nusselt number, it can
be seen that the heat transfer coefficient is proportional to the 0.6 power of the
flow rate as compared to 0.8 power for flow through tubes.
The pressure drop of liquid flowing through the shell is also difficult to
predict analytically. Normally the pressure drop on shell side is obtained from
experimental measurements and is provided in the form of tables and charts for a
particular type of shell-and-tube heat exchanger.
c) Boiling Heat Transfer Coefficients:
Pool boiling vs flow boiling:
In evaporators boiling of refrigerant may take place outside tubes or inside
tubes. When boiling takes place outside the tubes it is called as pool boiling. In
pool boiling it is assumed that the tube or the heat transfer surface is immersed
in a pool of liquid, which is at its saturation temperature. Figure 23.10 shows a
typical boiling curve, which shows the variation of surface heat flux with
temperature difference between the surface and the saturation temperature for
different regimes. For a small temperature difference, the heat transfer from the
surface is by free convection (regime 1). As the temperature difference
increases, bubbles start to form at selected nucleation sites. The bubbles grow in
size as heat is transferred and the evaporation of liquid occurs. After achieving a
critical diameter depending upon the surface tension and other factors, the
bubbles get detached from the surface and rise to the free surface where the
vapour inside the bubbles is released. During the detachment process, the
surrounding liquid rushes towards the void created and also during the bubble
motion upwards convection heat transfer increases from its free convection value
at smaller temperature differences. This region is known as individual bubble
regime (regime 2). As the temperature difference increase further, more and
more bubbles are formed and it is the columns of bubbles, which rise up
increasing the heat transfer drastically. This regime is known as column bubble
regime (regime 3).
As the temperature difference increases further, more and more bubbles
are formed, and columns of bubbles rise to the free surface. The heat transfer
rate increases rapidly. As the bubble columns move upwards they entrain some
liquid also that rises upwards to the free surface. The vapour in the bubbles
escapes at the free surface but the liquid returns to the bottom because of its
lower temperature and higher density. A given surface can accommodate only a
few such rising columns of bubbles and descending columns of relatively colder

liquid. Hence, the heat transfer rate cannot increase beyond a certain value. It
becomes maximum at some temperature difference. The maximum heat transfer
rate is called critical heat transfer rate.
If temperature difference is increased beyond this value, then a blanket of
film forms around the heat transfer surface. This vapour film offers conduction
thermal resistance; as a result the heat transfer rate decreases. The film however
is unstable and may break at times. This regime is called unstable film regime
(regime 4).
If temperature difference is increased further it becomes so high that
radiation heat transfer becomes very important and heat transfer rate increases
because of radiation component. This regime is called stable film boiling regime
(regime 5). After this, due to the high surface temperature, radiation effects
become important (regime 6).
As the temperature difference is increased, the temperature of the surface
tw continues to increase since conduction thermal resistance of the film becomes
larger as the film thickness increases. All the heat from the surface cannot be
transferred across the film and surface temperature increases. Ultimately the
temperature may approach the melting point of the metal and severe accident
may occur (if these are the tubes of nuclear power plant). This point is referred to
as burnout point.
(Ts-Tf)
q
1 2 3 4 5 6 Critical
heat flux
Fig.23.10: A typical pool boiling curve showing different regimes, 1 to 6

Boiling inside tubes is called as flow boiling. Flow boiling consists of nucleate
boiling as well as convective heat transfer. As the liquid evaporates, more vapour
is formed which increases the average velocity and the convective heat transfer
rate. The flow pattern changes continuously as boiling takes place along the
tube. For example in a horizontal tube, the flow can be stratified flow, wavy flow,
slug flow, annular flow, mist flow etc. The flow pattern will be different if it takes
place in an inclined or vertical tube. The heat transfer coefficient depends upon
fraction of vapour present and parameters of forced convection heat transfer. In
general, prediction of boiling heat transfer coefficients during flow boiling is much
more complex than pool boiling. However, a large number of empirical
correlations have been developed over the years to predict boiling heat transfer
coefficients for both pool as well as flow boiling conditions. The following are
some of the well-known correlations:
Nucleate Pool Boiling
Normally evaporators are designed to operate in nucleate pool boiling
regime as the heat transfer coefficients obtained in this regime are stable and are
very high. Various studies show that in nucleate pool boiling region, the heat
transfer coefficient is proportional to the 2 or 3 power of temperature difference
between the surface and the boiling fluid, i.e.,
3to2
fsnb )TT(Ch −= (23.5)
the value of C depends upon type of the surface etc. The exponent can be as
high as 25 on specially treated surfaces for enhancement of boiling.
Rohsenow’s Correlation for nucleate pool boiling: This correlation is
applicable to clean surfaces and is relatively independent of shape and
orientation of the surface.
s
f
33.0
gffgf
sf
fg
xf
Pr
)(gh
A/Q
C
h
TC
⎥
⎥
⎦
⎤
⎢
⎢
⎣
⎡
ρ−ρ
σ
μ
=
Δ
(23.6)
where:
= Specific heat of liquidCf
ΔTx = Temperature difference between surface and fluid
hfg = Latent heat of vaporization
σ = Surface Tension
Csf = constant which depends on the surface-fluid combination, e.g. 0.013 for
halocarbons boiling on copper surface
Q/A = heat flux
= Viscosity of fluidμf
, ρ = Density of saturated liquid and saturated vapour, respectivelyρf g
Prf = Prandtl number of saturated liquid
s = constant, 1 for water and 1.7 for halocarbons

All the fluid properties are calculated at saturation temperature corresponding
to the local pressure.
Forced Convection Boiling inside tubes:
Rohsenow and Griffith suggested that flow boiling in tubes be analyzed as
a combination of pool boiling and forced convection. The total heat flux (qtotal) is
the sum of heat flux due to nucleate pool boiling (q ) and forced convection (qnb fc),
i.e.,
fcnbtotal qqq += (23.7)
Heat flux due to nucleate pool boiling (qnb) is calculated by using nucleate
pool boiling correlations and heat flux due to forced convection (qfc) can be
calculated by using standard forced convection correlations, such as Dittus-
Boelter correlation.
Some of the other correlations suggested for flow boiling are given below:
(a) Bo Pierre’s Correlation : This correlation gives average heat transfer
coefficients and is valid for inlet quality xinlet ≈ 0.1 to 0.16.
( ) 9.0xandnevaporatioincompletefor:KRe0009.0uN exit
2
1
f
2
ff <=
( ) nevaporatiocompletefor:KRe0082.0uN 2
1
f
2
ff = (23.8)
In the above equations, Re and Nuf f are liquid Reynolds and Nusselt
numbers, respectively. K is the load factor, defined as:f
L
hx
K
fg
f
Δ
= (23.9)
where L is the length of the tube.
(b) Chaddock-Brunemann’s Correlation:
[ 6.067.0
tt
4
LTP )X/1(5.110.Boh91.1h += ] (23.10)
)A/m(h
A/Q
NumberBoilingBo
fg
==
ParameterMartinelliLockhart)/()/(
x
x1
X 1.0
gf
5.0
fg
9.0
tt −μμρρ⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛ −
=

(c) Jung and Radermacher Correlation:
L1sa1TP hFhNh += (23.11)
where hL is the single phase (liquid) heat transfer coefficient as predicted by
Dittus-Boelter equation, and hsa is given by:
85.0
tt1
tt
33.028.0
tt1
tt
13.122.1
tt1
o
5.0
gf
533.0
f
581.0
f
g
745.0
satf
f
sa
)X/129.0(37.2F
5X1for:BoX1.00.2N
1Xfor:BoX4048N
35:
)(g
2
0146.0bd
Pr
T
bd
.
k
q
bd
k
207h
+=
≤<−=
≤=
=β
⎥
⎥
⎦
⎤
⎢
⎢
⎣
⎡
ρ−ρ
σ
β=
⎟
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎜
⎝
⎛
ρ
ρ
⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
=
−−
(23.12)
In nucleate boiling, the heat transfer coefficient is mainly dependent on the
heat flux and is a very weak function of mass flux. However, in flow boiling the
heat transfer coefficient depends mainly on mass flux and is a weak function of
heat flux. Studies show that for boiling inside tubes, initially when the vapour
fraction (quality) is low, then nucleate boiling is dominant and the heat transfer
coefficient depends on heat flux. However, as the fluid flows through the tubes,
the vapour fraction increases progressively due to heat transfer and when it
exceeds a critical vapour fraction, convective boiling becomes dominant. As
mentioned, in this region, the heat transfer coefficient depends mainly on the
mass flux and is almost independent of heat flux. As a whole, the heat transfer
coefficient due to boiling increases initially reaches a peak and then drops
towards the end of the tube. Thus accurate modeling of evaporators requires
estimation of heat transfer coefficient along the length taking into account the
complex physics.
Horizontal vs Vertical tubes: As mentioned before, boiling heat transfer
coefficients in vertical columns will be different from that in a horizontal tube. In a
vertical tube, due to hydrostatic head, the evaporation temperature increases,
which in turn reduces the driving temperature difference, and hence, the heat
transfer rate.
Effect of oil in evaporator: Studies on R 12 evaporators show that the boiling heat
transfer coefficient inside tubes increases initially with oil concentration upto a
value of about 4 percent and then decreases. The initial increase is attributed to
the greater wetting of the tube surface due to the presence of oil. The
subsequent reduction is due to the rapid increase in viscosity of the refrigerant-oil
mixture as oil is more viscous than refrigerant. For the estimation of heat transfer

coefficient, the presence of oil may be neglected as long as its concentration is
low (less than 10 percent).
23.12. Enhancement of heat transfer coefficients:
The overall heat transfer coefficient of a heat exchanger depends mainly
on the component having the largest resistance to heat transfer. When air is
used an external fluid, the heat transfer coefficient on air side is small, hence to
obtain high overall heat transfer coefficient, the air side heat transfer is
augmented by adding fins. When liquid water is used as the external fluid, then
the heat transfer coefficient on water side will be high, when the flow is turbulent
(which normally is the case). Hence to further improve overall heat transfer
coefficient, it may become necessary to enhance heat transfer on the refrigerant
side. This is especially the case with synthetic refrigerants. The enhancement of
boiling heat transfer coefficient can be achieved in several ways such as:
increasing the refrigerant velocity by using an external pump in flooded
evaporators, by using integrally finned tubes, by using treated surfaces, by using
turbulence promoters etc. These methods improve the refrigerant side heat
transfer coefficient and hence the overall heat transfer coefficient significantly
leading to compact and lightweight evaporators. However, it should be kept in
mind that normally any heat transfer enhancement technique imposes penalty by
means of increased pressure drop, hence it is essential to optimize the design so
that the total cost is minimized.
23.13. Wilson’s plot:
The concept of Wilson’s plot was introduced way back in 1915 by Wilson
to determine individual heat transfer coefficients from the experimental data on
heat transfer characteristics of heat exchangers. This is sometimes applied to
determine the condensing or boiling heat transfer coefficients of condensers and
evaporators respectively.
For example, in a water-cooled condenser a number of tests are
conducted by varying the flow rate of water and measuring the inlet and outlet
water temperatures. The total heat transfer rate is determined from
)LMTD(AU)tt(CmQ oowiwopww =−= (23.13)
From measured temperatures, LMTD is calculated. From the heat transfer rate
Q, area of the heat exchanger (Ao) and LMTD, the overall heat transfer
coefficient for a given flow rate is calculated using Eqn.(23.13).

Then the overall heat transfer coefficient Uo is equated to the following
equation (for clean tubes are clean with negligible scale formation)
ow
ioi
i
o
ii
o
o h
1
k
)d/d(lnr
A
A
Ah
A
U
1
++= (23.14)
If the water temperature does not vary very significantly during these tests,
then properties of water remain nearly constant. Since during these tests no
changes are made on the refrigerant side, it can be assumed that the heat
transfer resistance offered by the wall separating the two fluids and the heat
transfer coefficient on refrigerant side (ho) remains constant for all values of water
flow rates. Hence, the above equation can be written as:
i
2
1
o h
C
C
U
1
+= (23.15)
where C and C1 2 are empirical constants that depend on the specifications of the
heat exchangers and operating conditions, and the expressions for these can be
obtained by equating Eqns.(23.14) and (23.15).
If flow on water side is turbulent and the variation in thermal properties are
negligible, then the waterside heat transfer coefficient can be written as:
8.0
3i V.Ch = (23.16)
Substituting the expression in Eqn.(23.15), we obtain:
8.0
4
1
o V
C
C
U
1
+= (23.17)
vs 1/V0.8
Then a plot of 1/Uo will be a straight line as shown in Fig. 23.11.
This plot is extrapolated to infinitely high velocity, i.e., where 1/V0.8
tends to zero.
When 1/V0.8
tends to zero, from Eqn.(23.16) 1/hi also tends to zero. Hence, the
intercept on the ordinate is C (=1/h + A r ln (d /d)/(A ko o i 0 i i w1 )). The thermal
conduction resistance of the tube can be calculated and then the condensation
heat transfer coefficient ho can be calculated. As shown in the figure the term
A /(Ah) can also be obtained from the figure at any value of velocity.o i i
It should be kept in mind that it is an approximation since drawing a
straight line and extending it to meet y-axis means that condensation heat
transfer remains constant as the velocity tends to infinity. Wilson plot can be
applied to air-cooled condensers also. In this case as the heat transfer coefficient
for air over finned surface varies as V 0.65
, hence in this case 1/Uo will have to be
plotted versus V - 0.65
.

1/V0.8
1/Uo
(1/ho)+(do/di)riln(do/di)/kw
(do/di)1/hi
Fig.23.11: Concept of Wilson’s plot
Questions and answers:
1. Which of the following statements are TRUE?
a) In conventional refrigerators, the evaporators are kept at the top as these are
natural convection type
b) Natural convection type coils are useful when the latent loads are very high
c) Defrosting of evaporators has to be done more frequently in natural convection
type coils compared to forced convection evaporator coils
d) Provision of sufficient free space is very important in natural convection type
evaporator coils
Ans.: a) and d)

a) Flooded type evaporators are very efficient as the heat transfer coefficient on
refrigerant side is very large
b) In flooded type evaporators, the refrigerant evaporation rate is equal to the
refrigerant mass flow rate
c) An oil separator is always required in flooded evaporators as refrigerant tends
to get collected in the evaporator
d) All of the above
Ans.: a) and c)
a) Shell-and-tube evaporators are available in small to very large capacities
b) In dry expansion type evaporator, refrigerant flows through the shell while the
external fluid flows through the tubes
c) Normally float valves are used expansion devices for flooded type evaporators
d) In shell-and-coil type evaporators, thermal storage can be obtained by having
refrigerant on the shell side
Ans.: a) and c)
a) In direct expansion, fin-and-tube type evaporators, the oil return to compressor
is better if refrigerant enters at the bottom of the evaporator and leaves from the
top
b) For low temperature applications, the fin spacing of evaporator is kept larger to
take care of the frost formation
c) Double pipe type evaporators are used when close temperature approach is
required
d) Plate type evaporators are used when close temperature approach is required
Ans.: b) and d)
5. Thermal design of evaporators is very complex due to:
a) Continuous variation of heat transfer coefficient along the length
b) Possibility of latent heat transfer on the external fluid side also
c) Presence of lubricating oil affects heat transfer and pressure drop
d) All of the above
Ans.: d)

a) In evaporators using air as an external fluid, fins are frequently required on the
refrigerant side
b) In evaporators using water as an external fluid, fins may be required on the
refrigerant side to enhance heat transfer
c) Flooded type evaporators yield higher heat transfer coefficients compared to
direct expansion type evaporators
d) In general heat transfer enhancement techniques yield more compact heat
exchangers, but may also increase pressure drop
Ans.: b), c) and d)
7. Air enters a direct expansion type, fin-and-tube evaporator at a temperature of
17o o
C and leaves the evaporator at 11 C. The evaporator operates at a constant
temperature of 7o 2
C and has total refrigerant side area of 12 m , while the bare
tube and finned areas on airside are 10 m2 2
and 212 m , respectively. Find the
refrigeration capacity of the evaporator assuming only sensible heat transfer on
airside and counterflow type arrangement. Neglect fouling and resistance offered
by the tube wall. The fin effectiveness for airside is 0.75. The average heat
transfer coefficient on refrigerant and airside are 1700 W/m2 2
.K and 34 W/m .K,
respectively.
Ans.: Neglecting fouling and resistance of the tube wall, the value of ‘UA’ of
evaporator is given by:
iiobff Ah
1
)]AA(h[
1
UA
1
+
+η
=
Substituting the values of airside and refrigerant heat transfer coefficients (ho and
h), bare tube (A ), finned surface (Ai b f) and refrigerant side areas and fin efficiency
(ηf = 0.75) in the above expression, we obtain:
UA = 4483 W/K
From the values of airside and evaporator temperatures, the LMTD of the
evaporator is given by:
C55.6
711
717
ln
)1117(
LMTD o
=
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛
−
−
−
=
Hence, refrigeration capacity, Q = UA.LMTD = 29364 W = 29.364 kW (Ans.)e

8. The following are the values measured on a shell-and-tube ammonia
condenser:
Velocity of water flowing through the tubes, V (m/s) 1.22 0.61
Overall heat transfer coefficient, U (W/m2
.K) 2300 1570o
Water flowed inside the tubes while refrigerant condensed outside the tubes. The
tubes were 51 mm OD and 46 mm ID and had a conductivity of 60 W/m.K. Using
the concept of Wilson’s plot, determine the condensing heat transfer coefficient.
What is the value of overall heat transfer coefficient when the velocity of water is
0.244 m/s?
Ans.:
From the data given in the table, the following straight line equation can be
obtained:
8.0
4
1
o V
C
C
U
1
+=
The values of C and C for the given data are found to be:1 4
C1 = 1.605 x 10-4
m2 -4
.K/W and C4 = 3.223 x 10 m1.2
.K/W
The constant C is equal to:1
4
ow
ioo
1 10x605.1
h
1
k
)r/r(lnr
C −
=+=
and rSubstituting the values of internal and external radii (ri o) and the value of
thermal conductivity of the tube kW, we obtain the value of external heat transfer
coefficient (condensation heat transfer coefficient, h ) as:o
ho = 8572.9 W/m2
.K (Ans.)
The value of overall heat transfer coefficient Uo when the velocity of water is
0.244 m/s is given by:
3
8.0
4
4
8.0
4
1
o
10x1567.1
244.0
10x223.3
10x605.1
V
C
C
U
1 −
−
−
=+=+=
⇒ Uo = 864.5 W/m2
.K (Ans.)

R&ac lecture 23

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