Determining the Influence of the Number of Passes in the Shell and Tubes Condenser Thermal Performance Using R134a Refrigerant and Applying the Concepts of Efficiency and Effectiveness

The article aims to analyze the influence of the number of passes on the tube in a shell and tubes condenser heat exchanger using the concepts of efficiency and effectiveness and examines the effect of the number of passes in a shell and tubes condenser heat exchanger, with an inlet pressure of R134a refrigerant in the shell equal to 1.2 Mpa. Water or a water-based nanofluid with a percentage of aluminum oxide nanoparticles passes through the tubes (Al2O3). The heat exchanger is divided into three sections by the methods used: overheated, saturated, and subcooled. Efficiency and effectiveness were the primary metrics utilized to assess the heat exchanger's thermal performance. In the superheated steam area, efficiency is close to 1.0. However, there is scope for improvement in terms of thermal efficiency, which can be improved with more significant tube passes. The saturated steam region procedure is efficient for lower mass flow rates of the fluid in the tube, but it is ineffective for higher mass flow rates of the fluid in the tube. It is, nonetheless, quite effective at large mass flow rates. In the subcooled area, there is plenty of room to improve efficiency. Even so, more heat exchange in the subcooled area is limited by the fluid inlet temperature in the pipe and the work refrigerant pressure.