An Experimental Investigation of Pressure Drop in Two-Phase Flow during the Condensation of R410A within Parallel Microchannels

Abstract

In this study, the flow condensation of R-410A within 18 square microchannels arranged horizontally in parallel was experimentally investigated. All components of pressure drop, including expansion, contraction, deceleration, and friction, were quantified specifically for microchannels. The test conditions included saturation temperature, vapor quality, and mass flux, ranging from 18.86 to 24.22 bar, 0.09 to 0.92, and 200 to 445 kg/m2·s, respectively. The frictional pressure loss made up approximately 92.89% of the overall pressure reduction. The findings demonstrate that the pressure drop rises with higher mass flux and a lower saturation temperature. By comparing with correlations and semi-empirical models outlined in the literature across various scales, specimen types, and refrigerant media, correlations developed for two-phase adiabatic flows in multi-channel configurations can effectively predict the pressure drop in microchannel condensation processes. The model introduced by Sakamatapan and Wongwises demonstrated the highest predictive accuracy, with a mean absolute deviation of 8.4%.