Nucleate pool boiling of R-245fa at low saturation temperatures for hydrogen precooling applications

•Quantified HTC and CHF values for R−245fa at low saturation temperatures (−50°C).•Enhanced boiling heat transfer using microporous-enhanced surfaces.•Developed HTC and CHF correlations for plain and microporous surfaces.•Improved thermal management for hydrogen vehicle fueling stations. Experiments were conducted to measure the pool boiling performance of saturated R-245fa at low saturation temperatures (−30 °C, −40 °C, and −50 °C). Horizontally oriented cylindrical heat sources were used as the test samples and were intended to simulate a small section of a hydrogen-filled tube. Measurements evaluated the effects of saturation temperature and two microporous coatings on heat transfer coefficients (HTC), critical heat flux (CHF), and boiling incipient superheat. Results show that boiling performance decreases as the saturation temperature reduces—a result of less active nucleation sites and higher vapor coverage of the heated surface at lower temperatures. Microporous coatings increased HTCs and CHF values, but did not have a significant effect on reducing the boiling incipient superheat. The experimental results were used to develop correlations for nucleate pool boiling on plain and microporous surfaces that can be used to predict HTCs and CHF values at low saturation temperature conditions (down to −50 °C).