Experimental investigation of two-phase flow characteristics of HFC-134a through short-tube orifices

Abstract

The two-phase flow characteristics of HFC-134a, including flow pattern, mass flow rate, pressure distribution and temperature distribution through short-tube orifices are experimentally investigated. Short tube diameters ranging between 0.605 and 1.2 mm with length-to-diameter ratios ranging between 8.3 and 33 are used in the experiments. The test runs are performed at upstream pressure ranging between 900 and 1300 kPa, downstream pressure ranging between 300 and 400 kPa, and degree of subcooling ranging between 1 and 12 °C. Two groups of short-tube orifices are used in the experiment. The first is used to visualise the flow pattern. The second is used to measure temperature and pressure distributions along the tube. The results from the present experiment show that metastable flow and choked flow phenomena exist inside the short-tube orifices over the whole range of experimental conditions. The metastable liquid flow region increases with increasing degree of subcooling and upstream pressure. The mass flow rate is directly proportional to upstream pressure and degree of subcooling. The results of pressure distribution inside the short-tube orifices indicate that accelerational pressure drop at the inlet and outlet has a significant effect on the total pressure drop across the short-tube orifice.