• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 2011

Characteristics of two-phase pressure drop in microchannels were investigated experimentally. The microchannels consisted of 9 parallel trapezoidal channels with each channel having $205\;{\mu}m$ of bottom width, $800\;{\mu}m$ of depth, $3.6^{\circ}$ of sidewall angle, and 7 cm of length. Pressure drops in convective boiling of Refrigerant 113 were measured in the range of inlet pressure 105~195 kPa, mass velocity $150{\sim}920\;kg/m^2s$, and heat flux $10{\sim}100\;kW/m^2$. The total pressure drop generally increased with increasing mass velocity and/or heat flux. Two-phase frictional pressure drop across the microchannels increased rapidly with exit quality and showed bigger gradient at higher mass velocity. A critical review of correlations in the literature suggested that existing correlations were not able to match the experimental results obtained for two-phase pressure drop associated with convective boiling in microchannels. A new correlation suitable for predicting two-phase friction multiplier was developed based on the separated flow model and showed good agreement with the experimental data.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.637-645
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• 1999

Horizontal two-phase flow pressure drop within rectangular channels with small gap heights have been examined experimentally. The gap heights range from 0.4mm to 4mm corresponding to aspect ratios(the channel height divided by the width) from 0.02 to 0.2. Water and air were used as the test fluids with the superficial velocity ranges being 0.03-2.39m/s and 0.05-18.7m/s, respectively. The experimental results In rectangular channels were compared with the Lockhart-Martinelli correlation, which are widely used for conventional round tube. The Lockhart-Martinelli correlation turned out to be Inappropriate to represent the present experimental data. In this respect, considering the aspect ratio and gap-height effects, an empirical correlation on two-phase flow pressure drop was proposed. The proposed correlation successfully covers the bubbly, plug, slug and annular flow regimes.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.718-725
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• 2011

Characteristics of flow boiling heat transfer in microchannels were investigated experimentally. The microchannels consisted of 9 parallel trapezoidal channels with each channel having 205 ${\mu}m$ of bottom width, 800 ${\mu}m$ of depth, $3.6^{\circ}$ of sidewall angle, and 7 cm of length. Tests were performed with R113 over a mass velocity range of 150~920 $kg/m^2s$, heat flux of 10~100 $kW/m^2$ and inlet pressures of 105~195 kPa. Flow boiling heat transfer coefficient in microchannels was found to be dominated by heat-flux. However the effect of mass velocity was not significant. Contrary to macrochannel trends, the heat transfer coefficient was shown to decrease with increasing thermodynamic equilibrium quality. A new correlation suitable for predicting flow boiling heat transfer coefficient was developed based on the laminar single-phase heat transfer coefficient and the nucleate boiling dominant equation. Comparison with the experimental data showed good agreement.