Pressure Drop Study and Correlation Development for Two-Phase Flow of R134a in Annular Helicoidal Pipe

Pressure drop characteristics of R134a in annular helicoidal pipe was investigated experimentally with R134a flowing in the annular section. The experimental results revealed that when more R134a vapor was condensed, the liquid phase pressure drop increased largely while the vapor phase pressure drop decreased slightly. By comparing with the experimental data obtained from the same test section with R134a flowing in the inner circular tube of the helicoidal pipe, it was observed that the pressure drop for refrigerant in the annular section was always larger. It was also observed that the helicoidal pipe orientation showed little effect on the pressure drop variations. A pressure drop correlation was developed from the experimental data in terms of pressure drop multiplier with respect to Lockhart-Martinelli parameter.