An Experimental Investigation of Pressure Drop in Flow Boiling of Pure Refrigerants and Their Mixture in Horizontal Tube

Abstract

Experimental investigation of pressure drop for pure refrigerants R134a and R123 and their mixtures as test fluids was carried out for both an adiabatic and a diabatic two-phase flow in a horizontal tube. The measured frictional pressure drop in the adiabatic experiments increased in the S-shaped curve as equilibrium vapor quality was increased. These data were compared to various correlations proposed in the past for the frictional pressure drop. The homogeneous model considerally underpredicted the present data both for pure fluids and their mixtures in the entire mass flux range 150 to 600kg/m²s covered in the measurements, while Friedel correlation was found rather well to correlate the frictional pressure drop data among compared correlations. However a detailed examination showed Friedel correlation underpredicted the present data in the stratified and stratified-wavy flow regions at low vapor quality and overpredicted in the annular flow region at high quality. A new two-phase multiplier was developed from a dimensional analysis of the frictional pressure drop data measured in the adiabatic experiment. This new multiplier was found successfully to correlate the frictional pressure drop measured in the diabatic flow boiling experiments of pure refrigerants and their mixtures almost with a mean deviation of 20%.