Abstract
The performance of adiabatic capillary tubes are measured to provide the database for a generalized correlation. Test conditions and capillary tube geometries are selected to cover a wide range typically observed in air-conditioning and heat pump applications. Based on extensive experimental data for R22, R290, and R407C measured in this study, a generalized correlation for refrigerant flow rate in adiabatic capillary tubes is developed by implementing dimensionless parameters for tube inlet conditions, capillary tube geometry, and refrigerant properties. The correlation yields good agreement with the present data for R22, R290, and R407C with average and standard deviations of 0.9% and 5.0%, respectively. In addition, approximately 97% of the data for Rl2, R134a, R152a, R410A, and R600a obtained in the open literature are correlated within a relative deviation of $\pm$ 15%.