Pressure Drop of a Refrigerant Flowing Vertically Upward and Downward in Small Circular, Rectangular, and Triangular Tubes

Abstract

In the present study, experiments were performed to examine the characteristics of the two-phase frictional pressure drop of an R410A refrigerant flowing vertically upward and downward for the development of a high-performance heat exchanger using small tubes or mini-channels for air-conditioning systems. The cross-sections of copper test tubes were 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mm circular tubes, and rectangular and triangular tubes with hydraulic diameters of 1.04 and 0.88 mm, respectively. The frictional pressure drops were measured in the range of mass fluxes of 30–400 kg·m−2·s−1, with qualities from 0.05 to 0.9 and a saturation temperature of 10 °C. The characteristics of the measured pressure drops were compared in different inner diameters, cross-section shapes, and flow directions. In addition, Chisholm’s parameter and various modified Chisholm’s parameters for small tubes were examined to determine whether or not they reproduced our measurement data.