Flow-Condensation Heat-Transfer Characteristics of Hydrogen in Helical Tube

Jin Junzhong; Tao Xuan; Xu Ya; Shen Yunwei; Wang Bo; Gan Zhihua

doi:10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20251110004

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Flow-Condensation Heat-Transfer Characteristics of Hydrogen in Helical Tube

更新时间：2026-06-01

- Flow-Condensation Heat-Transfer Characteristics of Hydrogen in Helical Tube
- Journal of Refrigeration Vol. 47, Issue 3, Pages: 20-28(2026)
- 作者机构：
  
  1.中国计量大学能源环境与安全工程学院杭州 310018
  2. 浙大城市学院低温中心杭州 310015
  3. 浙江大学全省制冷与低温技术重点实验室杭州 310027
- 作者简介：
- 基金信息：
  
  the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52506034)
- DOI：10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20251110004
  CLC： TB61⁺1;TB657.5
- Received：10 November 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-01-08，
  
  Accepted：08 January 2026，
  
  Published：16 June 2026
- 稿件说明：
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金俊中,陶轩,徐雅等.氢气在螺旋管内流动冷凝传热特性研究[J].制冷学报,2026,47(03):20-28.

Jin Junzhong,Tao Xuan,Xu Ya,et al.Flow-Condensation Heat-Transfer Characteristics of Hydrogen in Helical Tube[J].Journal of Refrigeration,2026,47(03):20-28.
金俊中,陶轩,徐雅等.氢气在螺旋管内流动冷凝传热特性研究[J].制冷学报,2026,47(03):20-28. DOI： 10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20251110004.

Jin Junzhong,Tao Xuan,Xu Ya,et al.Flow-Condensation Heat-Transfer Characteristics of Hydrogen in Helical Tube[J].Journal of Refrigeration,2026,47(03):20-28. DOI： 10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20251110004.

摘要

为了满足制冷机冷却的小型氢液化装置优化设计需求，本文搭建了低温制冷机冷源系统，针对氢气在内径为1.75 mm的螺旋管内开展流动冷凝传热特性实验研究。在开展实验前，对制冷机性能进行测试，并通过数据拟合得到制冷量与冷头温度之间的函数关系。实验在3种不同饱和压力（495、665、850 kPa）和质量流率为15~40 kg/（m

·s）的工况下进行，通过敏感性分析揭示质量流率、饱和压力和温差对传热系数的影响。结果表明：在实验范围内，氢气冷凝传热系数随质量流率的增大而显著提高，整体增幅为74%~133%，且在低质量流率区间增长更为明显；在低质量流率条件下，饱和压力由495 kPa提高至850 kPa时，冷凝传热系数下降47%，而在高质量流率下压力影响明显减弱；此外，在本实验工况下冷凝传热系数区间为594~1 388 W/（m

·K）。

Abstract

Objective

To satisfy the optimization and design requirements of small-scale hydrogen liquefaction systems cooled by cryogenic refrigerators， this study investigates the flow-condensation heat-transfer process of hydrogen in a small-diameter helical tube. The objective is to reveal the condensation behavior and key factors influencing hydrogen under cryogenic conditions. Owing to its low viscosity， surface tension， and two-phase density ratio， the heat-transfer mechanism of hydrogen differs significantly from that of conventional refrigerants. However， existing experimental data and correlations for hydrogen flow condensation remain limited. Therefore， in this study， the effects of mass flux， saturation pressure， and temperature difference on the flow condensation heat-transfer performance of hydrogen were investigated， thus providing experimental evidence and theoretical references for the structural design and performance optimization of small-scale hydrogen liquefaction systems.

Methods

An experimental setup for hydrogen-flow condensation was established using a Gifford–McMahon refrigerator. The condenser comprises a stainless-steel helical coil （inner diameter： 1.75 mm） welded onto a copper block in close contact with the refrigerator to ensure efficient heat transfer. Experiments were conducted at three saturation pressures （495 kPa， 665 kPa， and 850 kPa） with mass fluxes ran

ging from 15 kg/（m

·s） to 40 kg/（m

·s）. The temperature， pressure， and flow rate were measured， and the hydrogen-condensation heat-transfer coefficient was calculated using a thermal-resistance model and the heat-balance method. Prior to the hydrogen-condensation experiments， the refrigerator performance was tested， and a fitted function relating the cooling capacity to the cold-head temperature was obtained. Additionally， computational fluid dynamics （CFD） simulations were performed to verify the uniformity of the internal temperature distribution of the copper block. The results confirmed that the measured temperature represented the refrigerator cold-head temperature， thus ensuring the reliability of the heat-transfer calculations.

Results and Discussions

The condensation heat-transfer coefficient increased with mass flux， with a higher growth rate at low mass fluxes and a more gradual increase at high mass fluxes. This behavior is primarily due to the thinning of the liquid film， enhanced convective heat transfer， and reduced thermal resistance as the two-phase flow velocity increased. At low mass fluxes， increasing the saturation pressure decreases the condensation heat-transfer coefficient， which is attributed to liquid-film thickening， reduced thermal conductivity， and weakened film fluctuations. However， at high mass fluxes， turbulence dominates heat transfer， thereby diminishing the effect of pressure， and the heat-transfer coefficients stabilize at different saturation pressures. The condensation heat-transfer coefficient decreased with increasing temperature difference. A larger temperature difference thickened the liquid film， increased the liquid viscosity， and increased the gas-liquid density ratio， thereby increasing the thermal resistance. This trend aligns with the data reported by Ohira et al.， thereby verifying the reliability of the experimental results.

Conclusions

Within the experimental range， the hydrogen-c

ondensation heat-transfer coefficient increased significantly with mass flux， with an overall enhancement of 74%-133%. Moreover， the increase was more pronounced under low mass fluxes. Additionally， at low mass fluxes， when the saturation pressure increased from 495 kPa to 850 kPa， the condensation heat-transfer coefficient decreased by 47%， whereas the effect of pressure weakened at high mass fluxes. Under the present experimental conditions， the condensation heat-transfer coefficient ranged from 594 W/（m

·K） to 1 388 W/（m

·K）.

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references

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