With on-going developments in the field of trans-critical carbon dioxide (R-744) vapour compression cycles, a need to effectively describe the heat transfer of supercritical carbon dioxide for application in larger diameter tube-in-tube heat exchangers was identified. This study focuses on the in-tube cooling of supercritical carbon dioxide for application in the gas cooler of a trans-critical heat pump. A literature study has revealed Nusselt number correlations specifically developed for the cooling of supercritical carbon dioxide. These correlations were proven to be accurate only for certain operating conditions and tube geometries. A shortcoming identified in the reviewed literature was a generic heat transfer correlation that can be applied over a wide range of fluid conditions for supercritical carbon dioxide cooling. The objective of this study was to compare experimental data obtained from a trans-critical heat pump with different Nusselt number correlations available in literature. The experimental tube diameter used for this study (16mm), was considerably larger than the validated tube diameters used by the researchers who developed Nusselt number correlations specifically for the supercritical cooling of carbon dioxide. The experimental Reynolds number (Re) ranges (350’000 - 680’000) were very high compared to the studies found in the literature (< 300’000), due to the test section from this study forming part of a complete heat pump cycle. Experimental results showed that correlations specifically developed for supercritical carbon dioxide cooling generally over-predicts experimental Nusselt numbers (Nuexp) with an average relative error of 62% to 458% and subsequently also over-predicts the convection heat transfer coefficient. Furthermore, generic heat transfer correlations were compared to the experimental results which over-predicted the Nuexp with an average relative error between 20% and 45% over the entire Re number range. More specifically, the correlation by Dittus & Boelter (1985) correlated with an average relative error of 9% for 350’000 < Re < 550’000. From the results of this study it was concluded that cooling heat transfer of supercritical carbon dioxide in larger tube diameters at higher Re numbers is more accurately predicted by the generic Dittus & Boelter (1985) and Gnielinski (1975) correlations mainly due to the absence of thermo-physical property ratios as seen in the CO2-specific correlations. / MIng (Mechanical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

With on-going developments in the field of trans-critical carbon dioxide (R-744) vapour compression cycles, a need to effectively describe the heat transfer of supercritical carbon dioxide for application in larger diameter tube-in-tube heat exchangers was identified. This study focuses on the in-tube cooling of supercritical carbon dioxide for application in the gas cooler of a trans-critical heat pump. A literature study has revealed Nusselt number correlations specifically developed for the cooling of supercritical carbon dioxide. These correlations were proven to be accurate only for certain operating conditions and tube geometries. A shortcoming identified in the reviewed literature was a generic heat transfer correlation that can be applied over a wide range of fluid conditions for supercritical carbon dioxide cooling. The objective of this study was to compare experimental data obtained from a trans-critical heat pump with different Nusselt number correlations available in literature. The experimental tube diameter used for this study (16mm), was considerably larger than the validated tube diameters used by the researchers who developed Nusselt number correlations specifically for the supercritical cooling of carbon dioxide. The experimental Reynolds number (Re) ranges (350’000 - 680’000) were very high compared to the studies found in the literature (< 300’000), due to the test section from this study forming part of a complete heat pump cycle. Experimental results showed that correlations specifically developed for supercritical carbon dioxide cooling generally over-predicts experimental Nusselt numbers (Nuexp) with an average relative error of 62% to 458% and subsequently also over-predicts the convection heat transfer coefficient. Furthermore, generic heat transfer correlations were compared to the experimental results which over-predicted the Nuexp with an average relative error between 20% and 45% over the entire Re number range. More specifically, the correlation by Dittus & Boelter (1985) correlated with an average relative error of 9% for 350’000 < Re < 550’000. From the results of this study it was concluded that cooling heat transfer of supercritical carbon dioxide in larger tube diameters at higher Re numbers is more accurately predicted by the generic Dittus & Boelter (1985) and Gnielinski (1975) correlations mainly due to the absence of thermo-physical property ratios as seen in the CO2-specific correlations. / MIng (Mechanical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In recent years carbon dioxide (CO2, R-744)has moved to the foreground as an environmentally friendly alternative to commonly used CFCs and HFCs, which are being phased out due to its high ozone depleting and global warming potentials. R-744 is not only environmentally friendly but due to its unique properties, it is also ideally suited for the use in heat pump water heaters. High cycle efficiencies are achievable even at high hot water temperatures. The high cycle efficiency not only leads to energy and cost savings but also ties in with the drive for implementation of energy saving measures in South Africa. It is therefore paramount to continue development and implementation of R-744 in heat pump water heaters. Optimizing the cycle efficiency is only possible if detailed component simulation models, taking these unique properties of R-744 into account, are available. The purpose of this study therefore was to develop a detail simulation model of a concentric tube-in-tube water-to-refrigerant evaporator, as well as a fin-and-tube air-to-refrigerant evaporator model. Data from the North-West University R-744 heat pump test bench were used to verify the tube-in-tube evaporator simulation model. The discrepancies in the cooling capacity between the simulation and test bench can be attributed to the presence of lubricant in the system.The fin-and-tube model was verified by testing it against the NIST program EVAP-COND (NIST 2010). Overall there was good agreement between the results of the two programs, with EVAP-COND predicting a lower cooling capacity(6% to 14%) and and a higher pressure refrigerant pressure drop (30% to 50%). It was found that both the heat transfer correlation of Jung et al. (1989) and the pressure drop correlation of Choi et al. (1999) are able to predict the experimental values accurately and are valid for use in both the evaporator models developed. To demonstrate the use of the detail evaporator fin-and-tube model, an evaluation of the different tube geometries, commercially available in South Africa, for use with R-744 fin-and-tube evaporators was done. For a fin-and-tube evaporator it was found that the most cost effective option is to use ⅜" (10.05 mm)copper tubes and the least effective is " (12.6 mm) stainless steel tubes. / Thesis (MIng (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

In recent years carbon dioxide (CO2, R-744)has moved to the foreground as an environmentally friendly alternative to commonly used CFCs and HFCs, which are being phased out due to its high ozone depleting and global warming potentials. R-744 is not only environmentally friendly but due to its unique properties, it is also ideally suited for the use in heat pump water heaters. High cycle efficiencies are achievable even at high hot water temperatures. The high cycle efficiency not only leads to energy and cost savings but also ties in with the drive for implementation of energy saving measures in South Africa. It is therefore paramount to continue development and implementation of R-744 in heat pump water heaters. Optimizing the cycle efficiency is only possible if detailed component simulation models, taking these unique properties of R-744 into account, are available. The purpose of this study therefore was to develop a detail simulation model of a concentric tube-in-tube water-to-refrigerant evaporator, as well as a fin-and-tube air-to-refrigerant evaporator model. Data from the North-West University R-744 heat pump test bench were used to verify the tube-in-tube evaporator simulation model. The discrepancies in the cooling capacity between the simulation and test bench can be attributed to the presence of lubricant in the system.The fin-and-tube model was verified by testing it against the NIST program EVAP-COND (NIST 2010). Overall there was good agreement between the results of the two programs, with EVAP-COND predicting a lower cooling capacity(6% to 14%) and and a higher pressure refrigerant pressure drop (30% to 50%). It was found that both the heat transfer correlation of Jung et al. (1989) and the pressure drop correlation of Choi et al. (1999) are able to predict the experimental values accurately and are valid for use in both the evaporator models developed. To demonstrate the use of the detail evaporator fin-and-tube model, an evaluation of the different tube geometries, commercially available in South Africa, for use with R-744 fin-and-tube evaporators was done. For a fin-and-tube evaporator it was found that the most cost effective option is to use ⅜" (10.05 mm)copper tubes and the least effective is " (12.6 mm) stainless steel tubes. / Thesis (MIng (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.