Experimental investigation of the performance of R22, R407C and R410A in several capillary tubes for air-conditioners

The objective of this study is to present test results and to develop a dimensionless correlation on the basis of the experimental data of adiabatic capillary tubes for R22 and its alternatives, R407C (R32/125/134a, 23/25/52 wt.%) and R410A (R32/125, 50/50 wt.%). Several capillary tubes with different length and inner diameter were selected as test sections. Mass flow rate through the capillary tube was measured for several condensing temperatures and various degrees of subcooling at the inlet of each capillary tube. Experimental conditions for the condensing temperatures were selected as 40, 45 and 50°C, and the degrees of subcooling were adjusted to 1.5, 5 and 10°C. Mass flow rates of R407C and R410A were compared with those of R22 for the same test conditions. The results for straight capillary tubes were also compared with those of coiled capillary tubes. A new correlation based on Buckingham π theorem to predict the mass flow rate through the capillary tubes was presented based on extensive experimental data for R22, R407C and R410A. Dimensionless parameters were chosen considering the effects of tube geometry, capillary tube inlet conditions, and refrigerant properties. Dimensionless correlation predicted experimental data within relative deviations ranging from −12% to +12% for every test condition for R22, R407C and R410A. The predictions by the developed correlation were in good agreement with the results in the open literature.