Numerical Analysis of Flow Condensation Inside a Horizontal Tube: Current Status and Possibilities

The present paper shows the current status and possibilities of the numerical analysis of flow condensation inside a horizontal tube. The thermohydraulic aspects of flow condensation inside a horizontal tube are complex both from the presence of two-phase and associated heat-transfer phenomena. The issue becomes more complex for the analysis of new eco-friendly refrigerants due to unavailable data in the open literature. On the other hand, different types of tube enhancement make the experimental analysis for different refrigerants more expensive. Hence, the stable numerical solution by a suitable numerical tool can be a smart alternative to the expensive experimental analysis. The present study shows the current status of the available numerical analysis. The paper also presents a numerical approach to the thermohydraulic analysis of flow condensation inside a horizontal tube by the commercial CFD software ANSYS FLUENT (V:14.5). The simulation is carried out under flow condensation of R32 refrigerants which is an eco-friendly refrigerant.