Theoretical investigation of adiabatic capillary tubes working with propane/n-butane/iso-butane blends

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, a theoretical model is developed to predict the refrigerant flow characteristics in adiabatic capillary tubes using propane/n-butane/iso-butane mixtures as working fluids in a domestic refrigerator. This model is based on the mass, energy and momentum conservation equations for a homogeneous refrigerant flow under different inlet conditions, such as subcooled, saturated and two phase flow. The effects of the inlet pressure (8–16 bar), inlet vapor quality (0.001–15%), inlet subcooling degree (1–15 °C), mass flow rate (1–5 kg/h), propane mass fraction (0.5–0.7), capillary tube inner diameter (0.6–1.0 mm) and the tube surface roughness on the capillary tube length are predicted. The results showed that the present model predicts data that are very close to the available experimental data in the literature with an average error of 2.65%. The pressure of the hydrocarbon mixture (HCM) decreases, while its vapor quality, specific volume and Mach number increase along the capillary tube. Also, the results indicated that the capillary tube length is largely dependent on the capillary tube diameter. Other parameters such as mass flow rate, inlet pressure, subcooling degree (or quality) and relative roughness influence the capillary tube length in that order. The capillary tube length as a function of the significant parameters is presented in equation form. Also, capillary tube selection charts either to predict the mass flow rates of propane/n-butane/iso-butane mixtures through adiabatic capillary tubes or to select the capillary tube size according to the required applications are developed. The comparison between R12, R134a and the hydrocarbon mixture (HCM) of propane/n-butane/iso-butane indicated that for a given mass flow rate, the pressure drop per unit length is about 4.13, 5.0 and 12.0 bar/m for R12, R134a and HCM, respectively. The ratios of the average mass flow rate of the HCM with a propane mass fraction of 0.6 to those of R12 and R134a are about 0.62 and 0.67, respectively. The average capillary tube length for the HCM with a propane mass fraction of 0.6 is longer than those of R134a and R12 by about 30% and 48%, respectively.