LAUSR

Abstract The falling film evaporation of R134a with nucleate boiling outside a triangular-pitch (2-3-2-3) tube bundle is experimentally investigated, and the effects of saturation temperature, film flow rate and heat flux on heat transfer performance are studied. To study the effect of cross vapor stream on the falling film evaporation, a novel test section is designed, including the tube bundle, liquid and extra vapor distributors. The measurements without extra vapor are conducted at the saturation temperature of 6, 10 and 16°C, film Reynolds number of 220 to 2650, and heat flux of 20 to 60 kWm−2. Cross vapor stream effect experiments are operated at three heat fluxes 20, 30, and 40 kWm−2 and two film flow rates of 0.035 and 0.07 kgm−1s−1, and the vapor velocity at the smallest clearance in the tube bundle varies from 0 to 2.4 ms−1. The results indicate that: film flow rate, heat flux and saturation temperature significantly influence the heat transfer; the cross vapor stream either promote or inhibit the falling film evaporation, depending on the tube position, film flow rate, heat flux and vapor velocity.