TY - JOUR
T1 - Experimental investigation of the void fractions of refrigerants R32 and R1234yf in a 1 mm diameter horizontal channel using a capacitance-based method
AU - Kim, Moojoong
AU - Uemura, Yuya
AU - Sato, Tetsuya
AU - Saito, Kiyoshi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2024/2/1
Y1 - 2024/2/1
N2 - The void fraction of two-phase flow in the 1 mm of channel is investigated in this study. The small channels, including micro to mini-channel, are widely used for developing miniaturized air conditioning systems. In terms of carbon emission reduction, optimizing the refrigerant charging amount based on sufficient information and understanding of the characteristics of the two-phase flow is a noteworthy challenge. The void fraction is a parameter of the two-phase flow that is essential for determining the heat transfer coefficient, modeling the pressure drop, and predicting the refrigerant charging amount. Therefore, the precise measurement and prediction of void fraction in small channels for various refrigerants are required. However, thus far, the void fraction characteristics of small channels have not been actively investigated because of the limited volume inside a single small channel and the relatively high error of the quick-closing valve (QCV) method for small channels. This study proposes a capacitance-based sensor as an alternative method for void fraction measurement of small channels. The newly designed void fraction sensor was fabricated with 7.8 % uncertainty under compensation for manufacturing limitations. The void fractions of refrigerants R32 and R1234yf flowing through smooth small horizontal channels under adiabatic conditions (inner diameter: 1 mm, mass flux: 300–600 kg m−2 s−1, saturation temperature: 20–30 °C, vapor quality: 0.025–0.900) were measured. The measurement results were compared with ten existing prediction correlations of five classifications, and the correlations that optimally predicted the void fractions of R32 and R1234yf in the small horizontal channel were presented.
AB - The void fraction of two-phase flow in the 1 mm of channel is investigated in this study. The small channels, including micro to mini-channel, are widely used for developing miniaturized air conditioning systems. In terms of carbon emission reduction, optimizing the refrigerant charging amount based on sufficient information and understanding of the characteristics of the two-phase flow is a noteworthy challenge. The void fraction is a parameter of the two-phase flow that is essential for determining the heat transfer coefficient, modeling the pressure drop, and predicting the refrigerant charging amount. Therefore, the precise measurement and prediction of void fraction in small channels for various refrigerants are required. However, thus far, the void fraction characteristics of small channels have not been actively investigated because of the limited volume inside a single small channel and the relatively high error of the quick-closing valve (QCV) method for small channels. This study proposes a capacitance-based sensor as an alternative method for void fraction measurement of small channels. The newly designed void fraction sensor was fabricated with 7.8 % uncertainty under compensation for manufacturing limitations. The void fractions of refrigerants R32 and R1234yf flowing through smooth small horizontal channels under adiabatic conditions (inner diameter: 1 mm, mass flux: 300–600 kg m−2 s−1, saturation temperature: 20–30 °C, vapor quality: 0.025–0.900) were measured. The measurement results were compared with ten existing prediction correlations of five classifications, and the correlations that optimally predicted the void fractions of R32 and R1234yf in the small horizontal channel were presented.
KW - R1234yf
KW - R32
KW - Small channel, capacitance-based sensor
KW - Void fraction
KW - low-GWP refrigerant
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U2 - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.122113
DO - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.122113
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85180407609
SN - 1359-4311
VL - 238
JO - Applied Thermal Engineering
JF - Applied Thermal Engineering
M1 - 122113
ER -