Local boiling heat transfer characteristics of ammonia/water binary mixture in a vertical plate evaporator

Abstract The next-generation energy production systems are expected to be based on ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and discharged thermal energy conversion (DTEC). These systems use a plate-type evaporator and ammonia or an ammonia/water mixture as a working fluid. It is important to clarify heat transfer characteristics for designing efficient power generation systems. Measurements of local boiling heat transfer coefficients and visualizations were performed for an ammonia/water mixture ( z  = 0.9) on a vertical flat plate heat exchanger at a range of mass fluxes (7.5–15 kg m −2  s −1 ), heat fluxes (15–23 kW m −2 ), and pressures (0.7–0.9 MPa). The results show that in the case of an ammonia/water mixture, the local heat transfer coefficients increase with an increase in the vapor quality and mass flux and decrease with an increase in the heat flux. The influence of the flow pattern on the local heat transfer coefficient is also observed.