Effect of Liquid Reynolds Number on Pressure Drop of Evaporative R-290 in 500µm Circular Tube

Due to certain advantages, natural refrigerants have recently become more popular. Environmental issues motivate this study, focused on the characteristics of propane (R-290) as a replacement for conventional refrigerants. The aim of the present research is to characterize the pressure drop of evaporative R-290 in a microchannel of 500µm diameter and 0.5 m length. The variables of the experimental conditions are mass flux between 155 and 1071 kg/m²s and vapor quality between 0 and unity. The results show a laminar flow for liquid R-290 and a turbulence flow for vapor. Some existing correlations of two-phase flow viscosity were used to predict the pressure drop. For homogeneous model, Dukler et al.’s (1964) prediction viscosity correlation best predicted the present experimental pressure drop.

Due to certain advantages, natural refrigerants have recently become more popular. Environmental issues motivate this study, focused on the characteristics of propane (R-290) as a replacement for conventional refrigerants. The aim of the present research is to characterize the pressure drop of evaporative R-290 in a microchannel of 500µm diameter and 0.5 m length. The variables of the experimental conditions are mass flux between 155 and 1071 kg/m²s and vapor quality between 0 and unity. The results show a laminar flow for liquid R-290 and a turbulence flow for vapor. Some existing correlations of two-phase flow viscosity were used to predict the pressure drop. For homogeneous model, Dukler et al.’s (1964) prediction viscosity correlation best predicted the present experimental pressure drop.