Two-phase friction factor in vertical downward flow in high mass flux region of refrigerant HFC-134a during condensation

Abstract

The two-phase pressure drop of the pure refrigerant HFC-134a during condensation inside a vertical tube-in-tube heat exchanger was investigated. The double tube test section was 0.5 m long with refrigerant flowing in the inner tube and cooling water flowing in the annulus. The inner tube was constructed from smooth copper tubing of 8.1 mm inner diameter and 9.52 mm outer diameter. The test runs were performed at average condensing temperatures of 40-50 degrees C. The mass fluxes were between 260 and 515 kg m(-2) s(-1) and the heat fluxes between 11.3 and 55.3 kW m(-2). The quality of the refrigerant in the test section was calculated using the temperature and pressure obtained from the experiment. The pressure drop across the test section was directly measured by a differential pressure transducer. A new correlation for the two-phase friction factor of R134a flow is proposed by means of the equivalent Reynolds number model. The effects of heat flux, mass flux and condensation temperature on the pressure drop are also discussed. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.