Two-phase flow regimes were experimentally investigated during the entire condensation process of refrigerant R152a in a circular glass minichannel. The inner and outer diameters of the test minichannel were 0.75 and 1.50 mm. The channel was 500 mm long to allow observation of all the two-phase flow regimes during the condensation process. The experiments used saturation temperatures from 30 to 50°C, a mass flux of 150 kg/(m2·s) and vapor qualities from 0 to 1. The annular, intermittent and bubbly flow regimes were observed for the experimental conditions in the study. The absence of the stratified flow regime shows that the gravitational effect is no longer dominant in the minichannel for these conditions. Vapor-liquid interfacial waves, liquid bridge formation and vapor core breakage were observed in the minichannel. Quantitative measurements of flow regime transition locations were carried out in the present study. The experiments also showed the effects of the saturation temperature and the cooling water mass flow rate on flow regime transitions. The results show that the annular flow range decreases and the intermittent and bubbly flow ranges change little with increasing saturation temperature. The cooling water mass flow rate ranging from 38.3 kg/h to 113.8 kg/h had little effect on the flow regime transitions.

Despite of the large number of research dedicated to condensation heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in pristine micro-fin tubes, experimental investigation on effects of tube expansion have not been reported in the open literature. The paper reports measured cross-sectional dimensions, condensation heat transfer and pressure drop data of R1234ze(E) in pristine (5.10 mm OD) and expanded (5.26 mm OD) micro-fin tubes with mass fluxes from 100 to 300 kg/(m2·s). Effects of mass flux, vapor quality and tube expansion on the heat transfer coefficients and friction pressure gradients were investigated in the study. When the mass flux is 100 kg/(m2·s), the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of R1234ze(E) decrease after tube expansion. However, when the mass fluxes are 200 and 300 kg/(m2·s), tube expansion effects on the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop are not notable. In addition, the experimental results are analyzed based on the existing condensation heat transfer and pressure drop correlations.