Experimental study on the void fraction during two-phase flow of R1234yf in smooth horizontal tubes

Juan J. Garcia Pabon (1, 2) , Leandro Pereira (2) , Gleberson Humia , Ali Khosravi (3) , Rémi Revellin (4) , Jocelyn Bonjour (4) , Luiz Machado (2)

1 Universidade Federal de Itajubá = Federal University of Itajubá
2 UFMG - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais = Federal University of Minas Gerais [Belo Horizonte, Brazil]
3 Aalto University
4 CETHIL - Centre d'Energétique et de Thermique de Lyon

Void fraction is an important parameter to design and simulate thermal systems involving two-phase flows. In this research, an experimental investigation of the void fraction in adiabatic two-phase flow of R1234yf in horizontal and smooth tubes with an internal diameter of 4.8 mm was carried out. For the experimental tests, the vapor quality ranges from 0.1 to 1 while two saturation temperatures (15 and 25°C) and two mass flow rates (180 and 280 kg.m − 2s−1) are investigated. The quick-closing valve(s) method is used to measure the volumetric void fraction. Tests are also undertaken with R134a used as a reference in this study. The results highlight that the void fraction of R1234yf is 5% lower than that for R134a. In addition, the experimental data of R1234yf were compared against seven correlations from the literature: the Baroczy and the Hughmark correlations were shown to provide the best prediction, with a mean absolute error of 2% and 3.2%, respectively.

Mots clés: Void fraction; quick-closing valve(s) method; R1234yf; R134a; Two-phase flow; Smooth horizontal tubes

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Thermique [physics.class-ph]

Juan J. Garcia Pabon, Leandro Pereira, Gleberson Humia, Ali Khosravi, Rémi Revellin, et al.. Experimental study on the void fraction during two-phase flow of R1234yf in smooth horizontal tubes. International Journal of Refrigeration, 2019, 104, pp.103-112. ⟨10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2019.05.007⟩. ⟨hal-03420450⟩