Flow boiling pressure drop correlation in small to micro passages

Abstract

An accurate and acceptable correlation for the prediction of two-phase pressure drop is considered a crucial step in heat exchanger design. Although many existing models and correlations were developed and proposed in the past, their ability to predict within acceptable error bands when applied in general to flow boiling flows is limited, even within their originally recorded ranges. The discrepancies are worse when predicting two-phase pressure drop in small to micro-scale passages. Therefore, the aim of the work described in this paper is to assess the most well-known models and correlations using a large experimental data-bank. The data-bank includes four refrigerants, namely R134a, R245fa, HFE-7100 and HFE-7200, small to micro heat exchangers made of different metals and different channel configurations. In addition, the data cover a large range of operating conditions, which can allow generally applicability of new correlations developed. This range covers channel hydraulic diameter of 0.46−4.26 mm, heated length of 20−500 mm, system pressure of 1 − 14 bar, mass flux of 50−700 kg/m2 s, wall heat flux ranging from 2 to 234 kW/m2 and exit vapour quality up to one. Twenty six existing models and correlations that were developed and proposed for vertical/horizontal flow, single/multi-channels and circular/non-circular channels were evaluated. Moreover, the effect of using different equations for calculating the two-phase mixture viscosity, void fraction, Fanning friction factor and Lockhart–Martinelli parameter was assessed and discussed. The mean absolute error of the existing correlations when compared with our data-bank was more than 30 %. Therefore, a new correlation for calculating the two-phase multiplier, which was strongly dependent on the Boiling number and the Lockhart–Martinelli parameter, was developed and then the frictional component and total two-phase pressure drop relationships were completed.