Two-phase refrigerant distribution in a two-row/six-pass mini-channel aluminum evaporator

R-134a distribution in an evaporator having two-row/six-pass configuration was experimentally studied with the inlet quality 0.2 and the outlet superheat 5°C. The mass flux was varied from 63 kg/m²s to 117 kg/m²s. The flow distribution generally followed the expected trend. The insert configuration (multi-hole or a single rectangular hole) affected only nearly passes. Furthermore, better liquid distribution was obtained for the single rectangular hole insert. The effect of tube protrusion depth was only significant at the first pass. As a result, flow distribution correlations obtained from the two-row/four-pass configuration predicted the two-row/six-pass configuration data reasonably well.