Two-phase refrigerant distribution in a combining/dividing header of a brazed aluminum evaporator

Abstract

For a brazed aluminum evaporator, it is very important to distribute the refrigerant (especially the liquid) evenly into each channel. If not, the liquid-deficient channel will be soon dry, and reduce the thermal performance of the evaporator. In this study, tests were conducted for a two pass evaporator having 10 combing channels and 14 dividing channels. Both lower and upper header configurations were considered. Effects of mass flux or vapor quality on flow distribution in the combining/dividing header were investigated. Data are also compared with those obtained from the header having 12 dividing channels. In the lower combining/dividing header, the effect of dividing header length on liquid distribution is different based on vapor quality. The centrifugal force, whose strength depends on header length and vapor quality, appears to play a significant role on flow distribution. In the upper combining/dividing header, the flow distribution is better for the header having shorter header length. The reason was attributed to more uniform height of the liquid pool, which is formed by the drained liquid film from top of the header. The effects of mass flux or vapor quality on flow distribution are also discussed.