Visualization and void fraction measurement of decompressed boiling flow in a capillary tube

A capillary tube is often used as a throttle for a refrigerating cycle. Subcooled refrigerant usually flows from a condenser into the capillary tube. Then, the refrigerant is decompressed along the capillary tube. When the static pressure falls below the saturation pressure for the liquid temperature, spontaneous boiling occurs. A vapor-liquid two-phase mixture is discharged from the tube. In designing a capillary tube, it is necessary to calculate the flow rate for given boundary conditions on pressure and temperature at the inlet and exit. Since total pressure loss is dominated by frictional and acceleration losses during two-phase flow, it is first necessary to specify the boiling inception point. However, there will be a delay in boiling inception during decompressed flow. This study aimed to clarify the boiling inception point and two-phase flow characteristics of refrigerant in a capillary tube. Refrigerant flows in a coiled copper capillary tube were visualized by neutron radiography. The one-dimensional distribution of volumetric average void fraction was measured from radiographs through image processing. From the void fraction distribution, the boiling inception point was determined. Moreover, a simplified CT method was successfully applied to a radiograph for cross-sectional measurements. The experimental results show the flow pattern transition from intermittent flow to annular flow that occurred at a void fraction of about 0.45.     

The heat transfer performance of horizontal tube bundles in large falling film evaporators

The performance of the horizontal heat transfer tube bundles in falling film evaporators in large compression refrigeration systems was investigated with numerical simulation in this paper. Four types of tubes, including plain tubes, and enhanced surface tubes of Turbo-B, Turbo-BII and Turbo-EHP, were employed in the simulation. Some factors, such as tube kind, tube pass arrangement, dry patch area on tube surface, liquid refrigerant flow rate, and number of flooded tubes, were analyzed based on simulated results. In the study, the maldistribution of liquid refrigerant flow caused by the distributor apparatus was discussed, which severely affects the performance of falling film evaporators according to the simulation. Some calculated results were verified by the experiment. These discussions and results can be used to guide the design of falling film evaporators under realistic flow conditions.     

Effect of tube diameter on boiling heat transfer and flow characteristic of refrigerant R32 in horizontal small-diameter tubes

This study investigated the effect of tube diameter on flow boiling characteristics of refrigerant R32 in horizontal small-diameter tubes with 1.0, 2.2, and 3.5 mm inner diameters. The boiling heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop were measured at 15 °C saturation temperature. The effects of mass velocity, heat flux, quality, and tube diameter were clarified. The flow pattern of R32 for adiabatic two-phase flow in a horizontal glass tube with an inner diameter of 3.5 mm at saturation temperature of 15 °C was investigated. Flow patterns such as plug, wavy, churn, and annular flows were observed. The heat transfer mechanisms of forced convection and nucleate boiling were similar to those in conventional-diameter tubes. In addition, evaporation heat transfer through a thin liquid film in the plug flow region for low quality, mass velocity, and heat flux was observed. The heat transfer coefficient increased with decreasing tube diameter under the same experimental condition. The fictional pressure drop increased with increasing mass velocity and quality and decreasing tube diameter. The experimental values of the heat transfer coefficient and frictional pressure drop were compared with the values calculated by the empirical correlations in the open literature.     

Two-Phase Flow Analyses During Throttling Processes

This study presents an experimental investigation of the throttling process of saturated fluorocarbon refrigerants (such as R116, R218, and R610) inside capillary tubes. For the detailed two-phase flow analyses, refrigerant R218 was selected. A divided capillary tube was prepared with a set of precise pressure and temperature sensors providing detailed information about the refrigerant flow behavior inside the tube. The metastable flow regions of the superheated liquid and of the two-phase vapor-liquid mixture were clearly detected. A correlation for the ‘underpressure’ of vaporization applicable for capillary flow of fluorocarbon refrigerants was determined. New experimental data were compared with a modified numerical model simulating all four capillary flow regions. A negative effect of non-condensing gases present within the cooling circuit on the overall capillary tube performance was experimentally noted.     

Distributed and non-steady-state modelling of an air cooler

The refrigerant flow inside the coils of a dry expansion plate-finned air cooler can be distinguished into two completely different types: two-phase flow and single-phase flow. The most difficult part of non-steady-state modelling of an air cooler is to describe the liquid and vapour mass transport phenomena occurring in the two-phase flow region, as this determines the boundary position between the two regions and then the superheat temperature, which is in turn the feedback signal of the thermostatic expansion valve. In fact, the mass transport is mainly governed by the momentum exchange between refrigerant liquid and vapour, which is usually called slip-effect. Because the momentum or force equilibrium is so fast compared to the thermal equilibrium, the slip-effect can be considered as a steady-state phenomenon. With this assumption, the mass transport in an air cooler can be described by using a simple propagation equation. The steady-state slip-effect, however, is found by solving the momentum equations for one-dimensional two-phase flow using advanced computer packages such as . This paper presents the derivation of the equations in non-steady-state modelling of an air cooler as well as the results obtained from the model. Because the model is purely distributed, it is applicable to various kinds of tube circuit arrangements of air coolers. The purpose of the model is studying and optimization of non-steady-state behaviour of refrigerating systems with capacity control.     

Influences of miscible and immiscible oils on flow characteristics through capillary tube—part I: experimental study

A capillary tube is widely used as an expansion device for small refrigeration cycles. In a practical refrigeration cycle, some amount of refrigeration oil is discharged from a compressor and refrigerant/oil mixture flows through the capillary tube. This study investigated experimentally the influence of mixing of the refrigeration oil with the refrigerant on the flow through the capillary tube. The experiments are carried out with not only a miscible combination of refrigerant and oil but also an immiscible combination. In both cases, the mass flow rate through the capillary tube and temperature and pressure distributions along the tube are measured under several conditions of subcooled degree and oil concentration. In the case of miscible combination, the mass flow rate of refrigerant decreases with increasing the oil concentration because the viscosity of liquid phase increases by the mixing of viscous oil. Even in the case of the immiscible combination, the oil droplet is so small that it mixes homogeneously in the liquid phase in the capillary tube and the refrigerant mass flow rate decreases by the mixing of immiscible oil. There is no significant influence of the oil concentration on the underpressure, which means pressure difference between saturation pressure and flash inception pressure, in both miscible and immiscible combinations.     

Dynamic behavior of a direct expansion evaporator under frosting condition. Part I. Distributed model

A general distributed model with two-phase flow for refrigerant coupled with a frost model is developed for studying the dynamic behavior of an evaporator. The equations are derived in non-steady-state manner for the refrigerant and a quasi-steady state model with permeation for the frost. The complex flow and geometry of the finned tube evaporator lead to uneven wall and air temperature distributions, which in turn affect the rate of frost growth and densification along the coil depth. Results include frost accumulation and its effect on energy transfer, air off-coil temperature, refrigerant liquid dry-out position and propagation of frost formation along the coil.     

Pressure drop and flashing mechanisms in refrigerant expansion devices

This paper examines a novel pressure drop mechanism as well as flow choking conditions that determine mass flow rate in refrigerant expansion devices. For this study, an ideal situation is considered where an expansion device such as a short tube orifice or a thermostatic expansion valve is modeled as an ideal isentropic nozzle. In addition, a liquid with a certain initial degree of superheat is first expanded in the converging nozzle down to the exit section without any phase transition. At the exit section where the metastable liquid jet flashes to produce a complex axisymmetric two-phase flow, a shock wave may terminate the overall expansion process. The model presented here is based on experimental observations in short nozzles, where the metastable liquid in the central core undergoes a sudden phase transition in the interfacial region, giving rise to a high-speed two-phase flow. A simple 1-D analysis of the radial evaporation wave based on the theory of discontinuities from gas dynamics leads to the Chapman–Jouguet (C-J) solution. Flow choking issues are examined and numerical examples are presented for three common refrigerants: R134a, R-22, and R-600a. Results suggest that the evaporation wave may be the flow controlling mechanism in these devices.     

An experimental investigation of modes of flow under conditions of evaporation of liquid on a vertical heating surface

An experimental investigation is performed of the effect of temperature head on the flow of evaporating film of liquid, defined by the wetting line or by ribs, on a vertical heating surface. The experiments are performed under conditions of evaporation of R11 Freon in a medium of own vapor on a vertical copper plate, including the presence of ribbing. The visualization of flow is performed. Analysis is made of the effect of the evaporation intensity in the neighborhood of liquid-vapor-wall contact line on the conditions of film discontinuity and on the pattern of resultant streamer flow. It is demonstrated that, rather than spreading, the liquid in the case of streamer flow on the heating surface contracts downstream even for a close-to-zero equilibrium wetting angle. This is due to intense evaporation of liquid in the region of liquid-vapor-wall contact line, where the liquid film exhibits a minimal thickness, to the variation of curvature of the interface in this region, and to the emergence of thermal contact angle. The dependence of thermal contact angle on temperature head is determined. Dynamic measurements are performed of the local thickness of flowing films of liquid using a capacitance meter, and spectral analysis is performed of waves which arise because of instability of film flow on the evaporating film surface.     

Liquid Rivulets Moved by Shear Stress of Gas Flow at Altered Levels of Gravity

Experiments with gas shear-driven rivulet flows in a minichannel of height 1.4 mm and of width 30 mm were conducted during several parabolic flights campaigns organized by the European Space Agency (ESA). Rivulet flow is defined as a particular case of liquid film flow when the film occupies only a part of the substrate without touching to the lateral walls of the channel. A high frequency schlieren technique has been used for visualization of the two-phase flows. It is shown that surface tension becomes the dominating force with decreasing of the gravity level, which results in reducing of the rivulet width. The width increases with the gravity level and with the liquid flow rate growth and reduces with the gas flow rate growth.     

Entropy generation during flow boiling of pure refrigerant and refrigerant-oil mixture

Optimization of evaporators in refrigeration systems, for instance, can be conducted using entropy generation as a criterion. The latter can be used for choosing a technology (smooth tubes, enhanced tubes, tube diameter, etc) or selecting a fluid. Once this optimization is performed, the refrigerant charge can be evaluated. In this paper, different entropy generation expressions are presented for a diabatic two-phase flow of a pure refrigerant and a refrigerant-oil mixture. These expressions are developed based on the separated flow model. Depending on the boundary conditions, the equations are different and the conclusions differ from one to the other. It is shown that for a heat flux condition at the tube wall, the use of enhanced tubes is recommended at low mass velocities whereas, the use of smooth tubes is better at higher mass velocities. On the contrary, for a constant wall temperature, the use of enhanced tubes is always better than smooth tubes. The role of oil is also emphasized. The higher the oil concentration in the refrigerant, the higher the entropy generation.     

Non-equilibrium two-phase refrigerant flow at subcooled temperatures in an R600a refrigeration system

A refrigeration system is typically designed such that the refrigerant reaches a subcooled state at the condenser outlet. A series of experiments are conducted to investigate the refrigerant state at the condenser outlet and the capillary tube inlet. The refrigeration system used in the present experiment is operated with R600a. The visual observations, as well as temperature and pressure measurements, demonstrate that R600a flows in a non-equilibrium two-phase state at highly subcooled temperatures. Furthermore, a set of equations is proposed for calculating the specific enthalpy of the refrigerant in a non-equilibrium two-phase state, and this calculation method is verified using experimental measurements. It is found that the thermodynamic property table does not provide an appropriate value of specific enthalpy in non-equilibrium conditions, while the enthalpy calculation method proposed in this work is in good agreement with the experimentally measured values.     

Two-fluid model of refrigerant two-phase flow through short tube orifice

Pronounced hydrodynamic and thermodynamic non-equilibrium exist in the flow of refrigerant through a short tube orifice under typical operating conditions. A non-equilibrium two-fluid model (TFM) for refrigerant two-phase critical flow inside the short tube orifice is developed. Both inter-phase velocity slip and inter-phase temperature difference are taken into account in the model. The mass flow rate, the two-phase velocity and temperature distributions in a short tube orifice are simulated. Comparisons among the experimental data of refrigerants R134a, R12, R22, R410A and R407C flowing through short tubes, the predictions by the TFM and by the homogeneous equilibrium model (HEM) show that the TFM gives acceptable predictions with the deviations of ±20%, while the HEM underestimates the flow rate by 20% or so.     

毛细管内制冷剂气液两相流动研究现状与发展

本文就目前制冷剂在毛细管中流动的研究现状及发展进行了分析，对制冷剂在毛细管中的流动过程进行了论述，阐述了目前的研究状况。对管内流动的特性、管内摩擦系数的确定方法进行了叙述。     

Design and analysis of multiple parallel-pass condensers

This paper describes and analyzes a novel design of multiple parallel-pass (MPP) microchannel tube condenser and its applications to automotive A/C systems. A flow distributor concept is introduced in MPP condenser in order to enable parallel flow arrangement in adjacent flow paths. Throughout analysis of two-phase flow and heat transfer processes in MPP condenser, a two-phase zone enlargement technique is developed to enhance condensation heat transfer and reduce pressure drop. Visual observation indicates a more uniform refrigerant quality entering the next cooling pass can be achieved in MPP condenser because superheated vapor through a pass-through hole on flow distributor directly injects into the separated liquid–vapor zone in a header tube. Performance test results show MPP condenser is able to improve heat transfer rate as high as 9.5% while its refrigerant mass flow increases 13.34% when comparing to a benchmark PF condenser.     

气体导流装置对微通道蒸发器性能的影响

针对微通道蒸发器制冷剂流量分配不均匀造成的换热性能恶化和干蒸现象,本文搭建了双流程微通道蒸发器性能测试实验台,研究导气装置对蒸发器换热性能及扁管中制冷剂分配均匀性的影响,并与常规的双流程微通道蒸发器进行对比。结果表明：由于入口制冷剂流量不变,液相制冷剂蒸发为气体的最大相变潜热不变,导致二者换热量和传热系数差值较小,最大值仅相差0.5%和6.9%。但加导气装置后流动阻力降低,两相段长度较常规结构增幅为87.3%,过热度显著降低,风速为3 m/s时两种结构的过热度降幅为44.4%。各扁管间制冷剂分布趋于一致,均匀性得到提升,干蒸现象得到缓解。     

工质为R134a绝热型毛细管数值模拟

根据均相流等多项假设,运用两相流动基本方程建立了绝热毛细管分布参数的稳态数学模型。模型中分别利用了常用的2种计算沿程摩阻系数方法（Churchill关联式、Jung等人推荐工质为R22的摩阻系数关联式）,模拟结果表明用这2种方法来模拟均能获得较高精度,但工质为R134a时优先考虑前者,因此在模拟毛细管时不同工质有不同的最佳摩阻系数关联式。     

The Development of a Three-Fluid Model of Two-Phase Flow for Dispersed-Annular Mode of Flow in Channels: Film Thickness and Pressure Drop

This paper is a continuation of the papers [1, 2] dealing with the development of a three-fluid model of a two-phase medium for the dispersed-annular mode of flow. Calculations and experiments are performed to determine the liquid film thickness and the pressure drop.     

小型制冷装置毛细管可视化实验研究

设计并搭建了一套小型制冷装置毛细管可视化实验台以及计算机图像采集系统,改变实验工况,得到了透明毛细管管长方向上不同距离处的管内流动状态图,通过开发的图像处理程序对其进行处理,获得流动状态处理图,并以此分析了小型制冷装置毛细管内的两相流特性.