Condensation of NH₃/H₂O with mass concentrations of 80%-96%: Experimental study in a plate heat exchanger

High concentration NH3/H2O is suitable for Kalina cycles used for the recovery of low grade heat. Plate heat exchangers (PHEs) are compact and reduce the charge of working fluid. This paper investigates the condensation of NH3/H2O with NH3 mass concentrations of 80%-96%. The vapor and liquid concentrations are close to equilibrium state, which are different from normal absorbers. The apparent heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) and frictional pressure drop are presented, covering the mass fluxes of 32-86 kgm(-2)s(-1), the averaged vapor qualities of 0.08-0.65 and the saturated pressure of 610 to 780 kPa. Larger mass fluxes noticeably increase the apparent HTCs and frictional pressure drop. At the mass concentrations of 96%, 91% and 88%, higher vapor qualities increase the apparent HTCs for large mass fluxes. The apparent HTCs decrease slightly with vapor qualities for 80% mass concentration. The experimental results are compared with those of pure NH3. The flow patterns of high concentration NH3/H2O are considered as full film flow and partial film flow, which are the same as for NH3. The mass transfer resistance deteriorates the heat transfer especially for partial film flow, which happens at small liquid mass fluxes. The mass transfer resistance has negligible influences on frictional pressure drop.