Heat, Mass, and Momentum Transfer Inside Frosted Tubes—Experiment and Theory
Abstract
The paper presents a combined experimental and theoretical study on the heat, mass, and momentum transfer in a frosted heat exchanger tube. Experimental evidence suggests that the behavior of the frosted tube is largely determined by the surface roughness of the frost layer. Based on simple stability considerations and the well-known rough pipe results of Nikuradse and von Karman, a theory is presented which predicts the frost surface roughness as functions of RePrkkf and the frost thickness. The theoretical results are shown to be in qualitative agreement with observed results. Heat-transfer and pressure drop calculations based on the predicted roughness are also found to be in fair agreement with observed results.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
There is a general consensus in the literature that a relationship exists between frost thermal conductivity and density.
“There is a general consensus in the literature that a relationship exists between these two properties.”
From Studies of an air cooler under frost condition (2019) · cites this paper as Chen and Rohsenow (1964)
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Yao, Y., Jiang, Y., Deng, S., & Ma, Z. (2004) · International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer · doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2004.03.013 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Modeling of frost growth and frost properties with airflow over a flat plate
Yun, R., Kim, Y., & Min, M.-K. (2002) · International Journal of Refrigeration · doi:10.1016/s0140-7007(01)00026-3 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Microchannel Heat Exchanger Design for Evaporator and Condenser Applications
Kim, M.-H., Lee, S.-Y., Mehendale, S., & Webb, R. (2003) · Advances in heat transfer · doi:10.1016/s0065-2717(03)37004-2 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Frost formation and heat transfer on circular cylinders in cross-flow
Raju, S. P., & Sherif, S. A. (1993) · International Journal of Refrigeration · doi:10.1016/0140-7007(93)90056-e · Cited by 30 · see citing works
An analysis of incipient frost formation
Seki, N., Fukusako, S., Matsuo, K., & Uemura, S. (1985) · Wärme- und Stoffübertragung · doi:10.1007/bf01682542 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Analysis of frost thickness and roughness growth from the perspective of frost crystal structure
Zhang, T., O'Neal, D. L., & McClain, S. T. (2020) · International Journal of Refrigeration · doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2019.12.019 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Clark, J. (1969) · doi:10.1016/s0065-2717(08)70132-1 · Cited by 25
Effects of Evaporator Frosting on the Performance of an Air-to-Air Heat Pump
Martínez-Frías, J., & Aceves, S. (1997) · Advanced Energy Systems · doi:10.1115/1.2795061 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Numerical prediction of frost formation on cooled heat exchangers
Sami, S. M., & Duong, T. (1988) · International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer · doi:10.1016/0735-1933(88)90009-7 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR THE HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER ON A FLAT PLATE UNDER FROSTING CONDITIONS
Sherif, S., Abdel-Wahed, R., & Hifni, M. (1990) · Chemical Engineering Communications · doi:10.1080/00986449008911422 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Variation of Frost Roughness on a Flat Plate Under Forced Convection
Zhang, T., O'Neal, D., & McClain, S. (2021) · Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications · doi:10.1115/1.4047570 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Impact of Environmental Conditions on Frost Crystal Structure
Zhang, T., O'Neal, D., & McClain, S. (2020) · International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration · doi:10.1142/s2010132520500145 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Mass transfer of supersaturated contaminants in cryogenic helium heat exchangers
Chang, H.-M., & Smith, J. L. (1990) · doi:10.1016/0017-9310(90)90259-w · Cited by 5
Heat Transfer Unit Evaluates Performance of Jet Fuels for Supersonic Aircraft
Bachman, K. (1965) · doi:10.4271/650803 · Cited by 3
Dimensionless Model of Frost Roughness on Cold Flat Plate Under Forced Convection
Zhang, T., O’Neal, D. L., McClain, S. T., & Riley, J. T. (2021) · Journal of Aircraft · doi:10.2514/1.c036066 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
HEAT TRANSFER UNDER FROSTING CONDITIONS TO PLAIN AND THICK-FINNED TUBES
Al-Sahaf, J. A., & Cornwell, K. (1991) · Experimental Heat Transfer · doi:10.1080/08916159108946402 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Studies of an air cooler under frost condition
Cheng, Y. C. (2019) · doi:10.32657/10356/6557
“Chen and Rohsenow (1964), Chung and Algren (1958b) and Yamakawa et al. (1972) concluded that the frost thermal conductivity not only plays a major role in the heat transfer mechanisms, but increases with frost density.”
BackgroundLiu, F., Fan, S.-K. S., & Ndi, E. (2024) · Water · doi:10.3390/w16020202
“Observation of frost formation requires consideration of surface roughness, meaning that the surface condition leads to an understanding of the pressure drop, heat transfer, and frosted heat exchanger [12].”
Cold Soaked Fuel Frost Roughness Evolution on a Simulated Integrated Fuel Tank with Aluminum Skins
McClain, S., O'Neal, D., Forslund, N., & Ahmed, S. (2023) · SAE technical paper series · doi:10.4271/2023-01-1442
The thermal resistance of frost on a finned air cooler
Chepurnoĭ, M. N., Shnaider, V. É., Lomakin, V., & Sinyuk, N. I. (1987) · doi:10.1007/bf00872512
- Authors
- Chen, M. M., & Rohsenow, W.
- Affiliations
- Avco (United States) (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Heat Transfer
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1964-08-01
- Volume
- 86
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 334-340
- ISSN
- 0022-1481 (ISSN-L)
- 1528-8943
- OpenAlex
- W2143388501
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 5.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- ASME Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Heat Transfer and Optimization
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Heat Transfer Mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows
- Keywords
- frost layer, heat transfer, mass transfer, momentum transfer, pressure drop, frost thickness, rough pipe flow, frost growth
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
