Pressure drop of water flow across a micro-pin–fin array part 2: Adiabatic liquid–vapor two-phase flow

Abstract

This is part two of a two-part study that investigates water pressure drop across a staggered array of circular micro-pin–fins. This paper reports results of adiabatic liquid–vapor two-phase flow, and part one isothermal liquid single-phase flow. The micro-pin–fins are 180μm in diameter, 683μm in height, and 399μm in both longitudinal and transverse pitches. Seven maximum mass velocities from 171 to 491kg/m2s, and sixteen vapor qualities for each maximum mass velocity were tested. Two-phase pressure drop across the micro-pin–fin array was measured, and two-phase friction multiplier and Martinelli parameter calculated. It was revealed that a unique functional relationship exists between the two-phase friction multiplier and Martinelli parameter, which proved that the generalized procedure developed by Lockhart and Martinelli could be applied to describe two-phase pressure drop across the micro-pin–fin array. The existing Martinelli–Chisholm type correlations for staggered micro-pin–fin arrays and tube banks were unable to predict the data, and a new correlation was developed.