• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.816-823
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• 2005

This paper deals with the heat exchange performance prediction of a counter flow type double-tube condenser for natural refrigerant mixtures composed of Propane/n-Butane or Propane/i-Butane in a smooth tube and a micro-fin tube. The local characteristics of heat transfer, mass transfer and pressure drop are calculated using a prediction method developed by the authors. The total pressure drop and the overall heat transfer coefficient are also evaluated on various heat exchange conditions. The calculated results of the natural refrigerant mixtures are compared with HCFC22. In conclusion, natural refrigerant mixtures composed of Propane/n-Butane or Propane/i-Butane are appropriate candidates for alternative refrigerant from the viewpoint of heat transfer characteristics.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.290-299
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• 2008

Evaporation heat transfer characteristics of $CO_2$/propane mixtures in horizontal smooth and micro-fin tubes have been investigated by experiment. The experiments were carried out for several test conditions of mass fluxes, heat fluxes, compositions of $CO_2$/propane refrigerant mixtures and tube geometries. Direct heating method was used for supplying heat to the refrigerant where the test tube was uniformly heated by electric current which was applied to the tube wall. Heat transfer coefficient data during evaporation process of $CO_2$/propane mixtures were measured for 5 m long smooth and micro-fin tubes with outer diameters of 5 mm, respectively. The tests were conducted at mass fluxes of 318 to 997 $kg/m^2s$, heat fluxes of 6 to 20 $kW/m^2$ and for several mixture compositions (100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, 100/0 by wt% of $CO_2$/propane). The differences of heat transfer characteristics between smooth and micro-fin tubes for various compositions of $CO_2$/propane refrigerant mixtures and the effect of mass flux, and heat flux on enhancement factor (EF) and penalty factor (PF) were presented.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.38-43
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• 2011

Natural gas liquefaction process runs under cryogenic condition, and it spends large amount of energy. Minimizing energy consumption of natural gas liquefaction process is an important issue because of its physical characteristics. Among many kinds of natural gas liquefaction processes, C3-MR(Propane Pre-cooled Mixed Refrigerant) process uses two kind of refrigerants. One is the propane as the pure refrigerant(PR) and the other is the mixed refrigerant(MR). In this study, to find the optimal compressing level, propane cycle is simulated on different pressure level. The case study result shows relationship between energy consumption and pressure level. As a result, the conclusion is that at a higher pressure level, process consumes lower energy. At 5 pressure-levels, energy consumption is 23.7% lower than 3 pressure-levels.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2007

The investigation has been made into the prediction of heat exchange performance of a counter flow type double-tube condenser for natural refrigerant mixtures composed of Propane/n-Butane or Propane/i-Butane in a smooth tube and micro-fin tube. Under various heat transfer conditions, mass flux, pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient of the mixed refrigerants were calculated using a prediction method, when the length of condensing tube, total heat transfer rate, mass flux and outlet temperature of coolant were maintained constant. Also, the predicted results were compared with those of HCFC22. The results showed that the mixed refrigerants of Propane/n-Butane or Propane/i-Butane could be substituted for HCFC22, while the pressure drop and overall heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerants were evaluated together.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.1945-1950
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• 2004

In this paper, The performance of Kim-Chi refrigerator with three evaporator and one compressor was investigated in employing 55% propane and 45% isobutane (R290/R600a) refrigerant mixture as an alternative refrigerant of R134a. The drop in test was performed by varying both refrigerant charge amount and capillary tube length in order to find both the performance and reliability of a small multi-refrigeration system. As a result, Both the power consumption and COP is increased by about 15% and 10%, respectively as compared to the baseline R134a system. In addition, the propane/isobutene refrigerant mixture system took advantage of the minimization of modification and redesigning of system components because of similar thermodynamic properties with R134a such as saturation pressure, temperature, normal boiling point(NBP) characteristics

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.29 no.2 s.233
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• pp.271-278
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• 2005

In this paper, the performance of Kim-chi refrigerator with three evaporator and one compressor was investigated in employing $55\%$ propane and $45\%$ isobutane (R290/R600a) refrigerant mixture as an alternative refrigerant of R134a. The drop-in test was performed by varying both refrigerant charge and capillary tube length in order to find both the performance and reliability of a small multi-refrigeration system. Results show that the power consumption is decreased by about $15\%$ and COP is increased by about $10\%$, respectively as compared to the baseline system using R-134a. In addition, the propane/isobutane refrigerant mixture system took advantage of the minimization of modification and redesigning of system components because thermodynamic properties such as saturation pressure, temperature, normal boiling point(NBP) characteristics are similar to those of R134a. The reduction of sales cost is caused by the decrease of refrigerant cost per unit mass and refrigerant charge amount necessary for the refrigeration system.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.25.1-25.1
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• 2005

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 2002

A small refrigeration system used in a water purifier was tested by employing propane/isobutane (R-290/R-6OOa) mixtures as an alternative refrigerant of R-12. The drop-in tests were performed by varying mass fraction of propane at 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 with a change of both refrigerant charge amount and capillary tube length in order to find an optimum composition in aspect of performance and reliability of the system. As a result, the mixture of 50% propane-50% isobutane showed the best performance and reliability among them in a small refrigeration system. During steady state operations, both the COP and refrigeration capacity increased by 4% and 9%, respectively, as compared to the baseline R-12 system. In addition, the propane/isobutane (50/50) mixture system yielded advantages in the minimization of modification and redesigning of system components due to very similar saturation tempera- ture and pressure characteristics with R-12.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.243-251
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• 2009

Refrigerant mixtures provide an opportunity to adjust their properties to fit design criteria and a possibility to create new blends that can improve heat transfer characteristics. Therefore, mixture of $CO_2$ and propane is chosen which may be a promising refrigerant and has good environmental compatibility. This paper presents measured heat transfer coefficient data during evaporation process of $CO_2$/propane mixtures flowing upward in vertical smooth and. micro-fin tubes. Smooth and micro-fin tubes with outer diameters of 5 mm and length of 1.44in were selected as test tubes. The tests were conducted at mass fluxes of 212 to $656kg/m^{2}s$, inlet temperatures of -10 to $30^{\circ}C$, heat fluxes of 15 to $60\;kW/m^2$ and for several compositions (75/25, 50/50, 25/75 wt%). Among $CO_2$/propane refrigerant mixtures, the heat transfer characteristics are much better than that of any compositions when the composition is 75/25 (wt%).

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.167-173
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• 2010

In this study, flow structure in a three-stage centrifugal compressor for LNG Plant with the refrigerant, Propane, was numerically investigated at the design point of the compressor using a commercial code. Flow characteristics in the passages of impeller and vaneless diffuser were analyzed in detail including velocity vector, Mach number and pressure contours in blade spanwise and meridional plane for each stage. The estimation on the one-dimensional output from the preliminary design and three-dimensional shape of the impeller blade was performed through the flow analysis. The verification for designed compressor was carried out from three-dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis. The results will be used as reference data for a new design of 3-D impeller shape to improve propane refrigerant compressor performance.