Numerical Study of Two Phase Flow for Pressure Drop in a Horizontal Pipe

In designing of condensers, the prediction of pressure drop is very important to predict the heat transfer coefficient. Modeling of two phase flow, inside a horizontal tube using CFD analysis is difficult with available two phase model in Fluent because of its changing flow patterns continuously. In this paper presents the CFD analysis of two phase flow of refrigerants inside a horizontal tube of 1.2m length three different inner model diameters of 0.0125m respectively, is carried out using homogeneous model under adiabatic condition. The considered refrigerants are R12 and R134a. The analysis is conducted at different temperatures and flow rates to evaluate the local frictional pressure drop. Using homogeneous model, average properties are obtained for each refrigerants that is considered as single phase pseudo fluid. Obtained pressure drop data is compared with separated flow models available in literature.