EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON NON-ADIABATIC FLOW OF HFC-134a THROUGH CAPILLARY TUBES

This paper discusses results from an experimental work on concentric capillary tube-suction line heat exchangers commonly used as refrigerant control devices in household refrigerators and freezers. Heat exchanger performance with the hydrofluorcarbon R-134a was experimentally evaluated for a range of heat exchanger geometries (diameter and length of the capillary tube, length and position of the heat exchanger) and operating boundary conditions (condensing pressure and subcooling). The results provided enough data to study the influence of the independent variables (geometry and operating conditions) on the dependent variables (refrigerant mass flow rate and temperature profiles).