Prediction of Friction Factor and Heat Transfer Coefficient for Single-Phase Forced Convection Inside Microfin Tubes

Microfin tubes are widely used to enhance heat transfer in heat exchangers in order to reduce volumes, costs and refrigerant charge. Much experimental work has been published for the flow of liquids, while some experimental work is available for the flow of gases for the chemical, refrigeration and air conditioning industry. This work reviews the literature and presents new experimental friction factors for the flow of the superheated vapor of R1234ze(E) in a 5 mm outside diameter microfin tube. The authors have also collected an extensive data bank of heat transfer coefficients (around 648 points from different research laboratories) and friction factors (around 536 points), covering 45 different geometries of inner finned tubes. After comparing the predictions from available correlations with experimental data, the present paper suggests the best performing equations for the calculation of the friction factor and of the Nusselt number during forced convection flow of liquids and gases. The suggested model for friction factor estimates the experimental values with a relative and absolute deviation of −0.3% and 7.9%, respectively, whereas the suggested model for the heat transfer coefficient predicts the experimental data bank with a relative and absolute deviation of −3.3% and 13.9%, respectively. The validity range of the two correlations is extremely wide, covering microfin tubes with diameters from 2.6 mm to 24.4 mm, and Reynolds number from about approximately 1000 to 300,000 for the friction factor, and from 3000 to 1,000,000 for the heat transfer coefficient.