Abstract
Flow pattern of refrigerant in a heat exchanger tube changes depending on vapor quality, tube diameter, refrigerant flow rate and refrigerant properties. High flow rate causes mist flow where the quality is from 0.8 to 1.0. 1n this flow pattern, the liquid film detaches from the tube wall so that the heat flow is intervened.
The heat transfer coefficient generally increases with the flow rate. But the pressure drop of refrigerant flow simultaneously increases and the region of the mist flow enlarges. In order to reduce the pressure drop and suppress the mist flow, we have developped a small liquid-vapor separator that removes the vapor from the evaporating refrigerant flow. This separator is equipped in the middle of the evaporator where the flow pattern is annular. The experiments to evaluate the effect of this separator were carried out and the following conclutions were obtained.
(1) Average heat transfer coefficient increases by 30-60 %.
(2) Pressure drop reduces by 20-30 %.
(3) Cooling Capacity increases by 2-9 %.
