Abstract
A comprehensive review is presented for the flow condensation of conventional refrigerant/lubricant mixture in horizontal tubes. Previous studies on the local and average condensation heat transfer data are collected and integrated discussions are made using simple laminar film condensation theories. The lubricant shows the decrease in the condensation heat transfer coefficient with the increase of oil concentration at the tube inlet, and the decrease is marked in high vapor mass quality region where shear-controlled condensation is dominant. The heat transfer deterioration due to lubricating oil for microfin tube seems to be larger than that for smooth tubes. The effects of tube diameter and fin dimensions on the heat transfer performance can not be summarized clearly because the lack of relevant experimental results. It is required to accelerate research in this field, especially the characteristics in the enhanced tubes and minichannels for practical use.
