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Study on the Influence of the Microgravity on the Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Evaporator

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Abstract

In a microgravity environment, the flow pattern, flow characteristics, and heat transfer characteristics of gas–liquid two-phase flow are different from those in a normal gravity environment. To study the influence of microgravity on the flow and heat-transfer characteristics in an evaporator, this study develops a flow and heat-transfer model in an evaporator based on a previously proposed microgravity solution where the refrigerant and lubricating oil are mixed. This work also examines the flow and heat-transfer characteristics of gas–liquid two-phase flow in an evaporator with gravity of 10–6-10−3 g and studies the influence of lubricating-oil content on the flow and heat-transfer characteristics of mixed two-phase flow in the evaporator. The results show that when gravity is equal to 10−3 g, the gas volume fraction at the outlet is between 0.6 and 0.7, and when gravity is decreased to 10–6 g, the gas volume fraction at the outlet of the evaporator, after gradually decreasing, comes close to a zero gravity-state. In addition, the gas volume fraction remains between 0.3 and 0.6. It can also be seen that when gravity increases, the heat-transfer coefficient increases nearly linearly and reaches a maximum value of 14.013 W/(m2·K) and 16.066 W/(m2·K) when the lubricating oil content is 2% for normal gravity, and 4.443 W/(m2·K) and 5.519 W/(m2·K) when the lubricating oil content is 2.5% for microgravity.

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Abbreviations

\(\beta\) :

Adjustment coefficient

\(\mu\) :

Viscosity

\({\rho }_{\text{l}}\) :

Density of saturated refrigerant liquid, kg/m3

\({\rho }_{\text{v}}\) :

Density of saturated refrigerant vapor, kg/m3

\(\Omega\) :

The characteristic eddy current number

\({A}_{\text{c}}\) :

The cross-sectional area of the evaporator flow channel, mm

\({\alpha }_{\upvarepsilon }\) :

ε-Equation turbulent Prandtl number

\({\alpha }_{\text{k}}\) :

k-Equation turbulent Prandtl number

\({\alpha }_{\text{s}}\) :

Eddy current constant

\({\alpha }_{\text{v}}\) :

Volume fraction of the steam

\(coeff\) :

Relaxation coefficient

\(d\) :

Equivalent diameter, mm

\({d}_{\text{p}}\) :

Particle diameter, mm

\(f\) :

The Darcy resistance coefficient of turbulent flow in the tube

\(G\) :

Refrigerant mass flow rate

\({G}_{\text{b}}\) :

The turbulent kinetic energy generated by buoyancy

\({G}_{\text{k}}\) :

The turbulent kinetic energy generated by the velocity gradient

\({h}_{\text{ i}}\) :

The evaporation heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerant side in the tube

\({k}_{\text{l,ref}}\) :

Liquid thermal conductivity of saturated refrigerant

\(L\) :

The latent heat of phase change, J/kg

\(L\) :

The wet circumference of the evaporator flow channel, mm

\(l\) :

Supervisor length, mm

\({\dot{m}}_{\text{ lv}}\) :

The evaporation mass transfer rate

\(P\) :

Pressure, Pa

\({P}^{*}\) :

The steam partial pressure at the steam-side interface, Pa

\({\mathrm{Pr}}_{\text{f}}\) :

The Prandtl numbers of the refrigerant liquid at the average temperature

\({\mathrm{Pr}}_{\text{w}}\) :

The Prandtl numbers of the refrigerant liquid at the wall temperature

\(R\) :

The universal gas constant

\(\mathrm{Re}\) :

The Reynolds number

\({\mathrm{Re}}_{\text{l}}\) :

The Reynolds numbers of the liquid refrigerant

\({\mathrm{Re}}_{\text{v}}\) :

The Reynolds numbers of the gaseous refrigerant

\(T\) :

Temperature, K

\(f\) :

The Darcy resistance coefficient of turbulent flow in the tube

\({T}_{\text{f}}\) :

The refrigerant liquid temperature, K

\({T}_{\text{sat}}\) :

The saturation temperature of the working fluid, K

\({T}_{\text{w}}\) :

The evaporator wall temperature, K

\({\overrightarrow{v}}_{\text{v}}\) :

The gas-phase velocity

\(x\) :

The average dryness of the inlet and outlet refrigerants

\({Y}_{\text{M}}\) :

The fluctuation caused by excessive diffusion in compressible turbulence

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Funding

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51906116), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Science and Technology Plan Project (Grant No. 2021GG0253), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Science and Technology Plan Project (Grant No. 2021ZD0036), Nature Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia (Grant No. 2019BS05007), and Nature Science Foundation of School (Grant No. BS201918).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Energy and Power Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China

    Rui Ma, Jiamin Guo & Yilin Ye

  2. Key Laboratory of Wind and Solar Energy Utilization Mechanism and Optimization in Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China

    Rui Ma, Jiamin Guo & Yilin Ye

  3. Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100124, China

    Yuting Wu

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  1. Rui Ma
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Contributions

Rui Ma collected, analyzed, and interpreted data, and wrote the manuscript. Jiamin Guo collected data and organized experimentation. Yilin Ye and Yuting Wu conceived of the experiments, oversaw experimentation, and edited and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rui Ma.

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Ma, R., Guo, J., Ye, Y. et al. Study on the Influence of the Microgravity on the Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Evaporator. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 35, 60 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-023-10084-7

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