The experimental study on evaporation heat transfer of R417A (R125/R134a/R600) flowing inside horizontal smooth and two internally grooved tubes with different geometrical parameters was conducted with the mass flow rate range from 176 to 344 kg m(-2) s(-1), heat flux from 11 to 32 kW m(-2), evaporation temperature from 0 to 5.5 degrees C and vapor quality from 0.2 to 1. Based on the experimental results, the mechanism and role of the mass flow rate, heat flux, vapor quality and enhanced surface influencing the evaporation heat transfer coefficients were analyzed and discussed. In comparison to R22, the evaporation heat transfer coefficients for R417A were lower and much lower in the internally grooved tubes than in the smooth tube. The present experimental results are also compared with the existing correlations, and the modified Kattan model is found to be in much better agreement with the experimental results than the Kattan model. The Koyama and Wellsandt microfin models all tend to over predict the evaporation heat transfer coefficients rather strongly for R417A inside internally grooved tubes. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.