- By:
- Jajja, Saad A; Murugan, Muneeshwaran ; Lin, Hao Yu ; Nawaz, Kashif ; Yang, Cheng-Min
- Page Number:
- 2146-2146
- Book Title:
- 21stInternational Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference at Purdue
- Publication Date:
- August 26, 2026
- Publisher Location:
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America
- Conference Name:
- 21st International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference at Purdue
- Conference Location:
- West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America
- Conference Sponsor:
- Purdue University
Abstract
In this work we report the results of a preliminary investigation focused on evaluating the thermal-hydraulic performance of R455A (CO2, R32, R1234yf – 3/21.5/75.5) in a commercial brazed plate heat exchanger. Three key parameters were measured which were refrigerant flow maldistribution, overall refrigerant side heat transfer coefficient, and total refrigerant side pressure drop. These same parameters were also measured for R134a which served as a base-line refrigerant for comparison. The experimental test matrix was set up to investigate the influence of refrigerant mass flux (3 ≤ Gref ≤ 5 kg m-2 s-1), refrigerant inlet vapor quality (0.1 ≤ xin ≤ 0.4), and refrigerant exit superheat (5 ≤ Tsh ≤ 10 K) on the above mentioned thermal-hydraulic parameters. For these experimental conditions, on average, the overall refrigerant side heat transfer coefficients for R455A were 45.2% lower than those of R134a. Refrigerant flow maldistribution for R455A, on average, was observed to be 62.6 % higher than that measured for R134a, and the total pressure drop across the heat exchanger (minor and frictional losses) for R455A was on average 26.5% higher than that measured for R134a. These initial results set the stage for a comprehensive investigation focused on further investigating the thermal-hydraulic performance of zeotropic refrigerants in brazed plate heat exchangers.
