Two Phase Pressure Drop Performance of Refrigerant in a Small Horizontal Smooth Tube with 2.5 mm inside Diameter

Two-phase flow pressure drop measurements were made during the phase change heat transfer process of R22 in a small horizontal smooth tube with 2.5 mm inside diameter. Conclusions can be drawn that the quality corresponding to the pressure gradient peak value of small tubes became higher than that of large tubes. The effect of quality to pressure drop becomes weak as the mass flux increases. The experiment data were compared with the predicated values of the state-of-the-art correlations from the open literature. The comparisons between the data and the predictions indicate that most of the state-of-the-art correlations fails to predict the experimental data. Chisholm model shows a relatively better predictive ability than the other empirical correlations although it has a mean deviation of 26.7%. But the predicated values of Chisholm model are lower by 50% than the experimental data when the quality becomes larger.