Numerical Simulation of Refrigerant Flow Through Adiabatic Capillary Tube: A Comparison between Homogeneous Equilibrium Model (HEM), Delayed Equilibrium Model (DEM) and Improved Delayed Equilibrium Model (IDEM)

摘要

As the industries are moving towards the alternatives to HCFC-22, more accurate and general calculation tools are required to predict the capillary tube performance using the new refrigerants. In the present paper, three different methods: Homogeneous Equilibrium Model (HEM), Delayed Equilibrium Model (DEM) and Improved Delayed Equilibrium Model (IDEM) are used to study the behaviour of the new refrigerant mixture R410A through an adiabatic capillary tube. The numerical results were compared with the experimental results of Sanzovo and Mattos (2003). The comparison showed that good agreement exists between the experimental and numerical pressure and temperature profiles along the capillary tube. Also, it was noticed that IDEM predicts the mass flow rate better in compare with that of HEM and DEM.