Review of numerical simulation of capillary tube using refrigerant mixtures

A detailed one-dimensional steady and transient state numerical simulation of the thermal and fluid-dynamic behaviour of capillary tube expansion devices considering metastable region and working with pure and mixed refrigerants has been developed and presented in previous works [Appl. Therm. Eng. 22 (2002) 173; Appl. Therm. Eng. 22 (2002) 379]. The discretized governing equations are coupled using an implicit step-by-step method. Due to the changes observed in the thermo-physical properties of mixtures using REFPROP v7.0 [Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties, NIST Standard Reference Database 23, Gaithersbug, MD 20899, USA, 2002] compared to REFPROP v5.0 [NIST Thermodynamic Properties of Refrigerants and Refrigerant Mixtures Database, Standard Reference Data Program, Gaithersbug, MD 20899, USA (February 1996)]; an extensive comparison of the numerical simulation developed with experimental data presented in the technical literature will be shown in order to demonstrate the accuracy of this detailed model. Finally, refrigerant-specific rating charts to predict in an easy way R-407C flow rates through adiabatic capillary tube are shown and used. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.