Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrefrig

Comparison of experimental pressure drop data for two phase

flows to prediction methods using a general model
Alfonso William Mauroa,*, Jesus Moreno Quibenb, Rita Mastrulloa, John R. Thomeb
a

Laboratorio di Tecnica del Freddo, DETEC, Faculty of Engineering, Universita` degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy
b
Laboratory of Heat and Mass Transfer (LTCM), Faculty of Engineering Science (STI), Ecole Polytechnique
Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Received 8 September 2006; received in revised form 3 March 2007; accepted 6 April 2007
Available online 27 April 2007

Abstract
In this paper, existing and new two phase pressure drop data are used to run an extensive comparison to predictive methods.
The database used is for seven refrigerants (R22, R134a, R404A, R407C, R410A, R417A, and R507A) over a wide range of
operating conditions. The procedure used for the comparison is a model of general validity since it is independent of the
data reduction procedure. Four quoted methods and a new one by Moreno Quiben and Thome are used. The statistical analysis
showed that the methods by Gronnerud and by Moreno Quiben and Thome are equally the best. Segregating the data by flow
regimes and taking into account for the prediction of the data trends, the method by Moreno Quiben and Thome is able to give
reliable predictions in all the range of vapour qualities, especially in the regions of the intermittent flow and dry-out.
2007 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Cooling; Heat exchanger; Horizontal tube; Smooth tube; Two-phase flow; R-22; R-134a; R-404A; R-407C; R-410A; R-507A;
Pressure drop; Modelling

Comparaison des donnees experimentales sur la chute de

pression lors de lecoulement diphasqiue et des methodes
de prevision sappuyant sur un mode`le general
Mots cles : Refrigeration ; Echangeur de chaleur ; Tube horizontal ; Tube lisse ; Ecoulement diphasique ; R-22 ; R-134a ; R-404A ; R-407C ;
R-410A ; R-507A ; Chute de pression ; Modelisation

1. Introduction

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 39 (0) 81 7682304; fax: 39 (0)

81 2390364.
E-mail address: wmauro@unina.it (A.W. Mauro).
0140-7007/$35.00 2007 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2007.04.008

Many industrial processes are related to two phase flows

such as fluid motion in pipes or channels and heat exchange
in evaporators and condensers. Predictions in local heat
transfer coefficients and local pressure gradients are required

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

1359

Nomenclature
Greeks
a
r
s
D

void fraction
density (kg m3)
surface tension (N m1)
finite variation

Letters
d
g
h
p
q
x
z
D
ER

derivative
gravitational acceleration (m s2)
specific enthalpy (kJ kg1)
static pressure (kPa, bar)
heat flux (kW/m2)
vapour quality
abscissa along the tube (m)
internal diameter (mm)
error function

for industrial equipment in order to reduce the costs, optimize performance and save energy. In past years, the complexity of two phase phenomena led to many experiments
for airewater and vapoureliquid mixtures, refrigerant
blends and other two phase flows. At the same time, in response to a growing need for more accurate procedures for
engineering calculations, a great number of predictive
methods were developed and implemented, but no general
prediction methods are still available. Often predictive
methods are empirical and not of general application since
they have a restricted range of underlying conditions and
have been developed for specific fluid combinations, crosssectional geometry, and tube orientation or flow regime.
These methods result in errors in predictions that are often
too large for that required in engineering calculations. Tribbe
and Muller-Steinhagen [1] presented an extensive comparison of 35 two phase pressure drop predictive methods
compared to a large database for the following fluid combinations: aireoil, cryogenics, steamewater, airewater and several refrigerants. They ran a statistical comparison for this
large database also segregating the data by fluid. They found
that statistically the method of Muller-Steinhagen and Heck
[2] gave the best and most reliable results. Several studies
about statistical comparisons of the most reliable predictive
methods were published; nevertheless, this kind of analysis
is not enough to carry out a comprehensive comparison. A
work published by Ould-Didi et al. [3] showed a comparison
between some leading predictive methods and experimental
data obtained for five different refrigerants segregating the
experimental data by flow regimes. Overall, they found that
the Gronnerud [4] and the Muller-Steinhagen and Heck [2]
methods to be equally the best, while the Friedel [5] method
was the third best in a comparison of seven leading predictive
methods. Segregating the data by flow regimes using the flow
pattern map by Kattan [6], the authors found that predictive
methods work differently varying the flow regime, since

FS
G
L
T

full scale
mass velocity (kg/m2)
tube length (m)
temperature ( C)

Subscripts
corr
correlation
exp
experimental
in
referred to inlet section
mom
momentum
out
referred to outlet section
sat
saturation condition
G
referred to gas phase
L
referred to liquid phase
LV
difference between bubble and dew points

the models are not able to capture completely the effects of

the variations in flow structure. Recently, Moreno Quiben
and Thome [7,8] published a work in which they made a comprehensive study to run accurate experiments. Then using
a new flow pattern map by Wojtan et al. [9], they built
a flow pattern based model for predicting pressure drops.
In the present work, the first objective is to highlight the
steps for the correct use of predictive methods and the errors
that could be produced by the incorrect use of predictive
methods. As a second step, a general procedure for comparison of experimental data to predictive methods is shown and
an extensive comparison to an existing database and new
experimental data is carried out.
2. A general procedure for comparison of predicted
two phase pressure drop values versus
experimental data
The evidence from two phase pressure gradient measurements in a tube is that the local pressure gradient is a function
of the following parameters: mass velocity, local fluid properties, geometry and configuration of the tube. The distribution
of the two phases inside the test section also plays an important
role. The dependence on the latter parameter is not always explicit. The most of the predictive methods use a unique expression for the calculation, that take into account for this effect.
The change in flow regimes causes a different distribution of
the gas and liquid phases in the cross-section and along the
fluid path. Consequently, the expression of the pressure gradient function changes. Hence, it can be assumed that the main
parameters influencing the local pressure gradient are:
dp
z f G; local fluid properties;
dz
geometry and configuration of the tube

1360

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

This function need different expressions for each flow regime. In design calculations for evaporators, it is necessary
to calculate the pressure drop for a fixed geometry and configuration of a tube (orientation, cross-sectional area, surface
aspect and length) at fixed operating conditions (mass
velocity, fluid properties at the tube inlet and heat flux along
the tube surface). The local fluid properties are a function of
the static pressure and the vapour quality. The procedure is to
integrate a function as in Eq. (1). For smooth circular tubes,
the integral function reduces to:
zout
dp
Dpzout ; zin
fluid; G; p; x; diameterdz
2
zin dz
It is important to notice that, in general, all the independent variables of the integral could change along the fluid
path and their variation along the tube should be known.
In practice, the diameter is often constant along the tube;
hence, for steady state conditions, the mass velocity of the
fluid is constant. Assuming negligible the effects of the static
pressure variations along the evaporator are usually neglegible for the calculations, here the effect of the vapour quality variations is highlighted.
Fixing the vapour quality at the inlet of the tube, it is possible to determine the vapour quality at a fixed position,
z, from an energy balance:
z
z
dx
4
_
qzdz
3
xz xzin
zdz xin
hLV GD zin
zin dz
The local vapour quality is influenced by the heating conditions upstream. To reach complete evaporation of the refrigerant in a smooth horizontal tube for fixed working
conditions (mass velocity, fluid properties at the inlet, diameter and length), different heat flux distribution are possible.
For fixed operating conditions varying the heat flux at the
tube surface, different values of the local vapour quality
will determine different values of the integral pressure
drop. Finally, the integral function of the pressure drop for
a finite length tube is a function of the following parameters:
Dp gfluid; G; pin ; xin ; D; length; heating conditions

In diabatic experiments where the pressure drops are

measured over a finite length of tube it is not possible to obtain directly the local pressure gradient from the experimental data. The pressure gradient over a finite length of tube
coincides with the local pressure gradient when the integrating function in Eq. (2) is constant. This is possible only when
all the independent variables of the function in Eq. (1) are
constant, i.e. for almost constant vapour quality (adiabatic
measurements in steady state conditions). Consequently,
the direct (local) comparison between predictive methods
and experimental data is correct only when the experiments
are related to adiabatic measurements. Otherwise, it is mandatory to integrate the local function as required in Eq. (2)
fixing all the parameters required in Eq. (4) and then it is

possible to compare the integral values to experimental

data (integral comparison).

3. Remarks about the data reduction and comparison

of pressure gradient measurements
For diabatic two phase pressure drop measurements the
data reduction procedures try to estimate the local values
of the pressure gradient function from integral measurements. These measurements are dependent on the mean
heat flux and the heat flux distributions. Many authors assume that the integral measurement of the pressure gradient for diabatic measurements coincides with the value of
the local pressure gradient function at the mean vapour
quality between the inlet and the exit of the measurement
tube. In general, this is an approximation that is exact only
assuming that the local pressure gradient is a linear function of the vapour quality and that the vapour quality is
a linear function of the fluid path (constant heat flux). In
this case the integral value depends only on the mean
value of the vapour qualities at the inlet and the outlet.
This data reduction procedure is not general since it requires the following assumptions: constant heat flux along
the tube and linear dependence of local pressure gradient
on the vapour quality. In experiments the last circumstance
is usually verified up to the transition to annular flow regime; otherwise only a small variation of the vapour quality
can give a good approximation. Since near the transition to
the dry-out, the local pressure gradient function usually
achieves a maximum, for measurements spanning the maximum, the integral value of the pressure gradient depends on
the heat flux. In a first approximation the local pressure gradient function near the maximum is a linear and continuous
function, as follows:
dp
x a  cx b; with b c 0 for 0  x  xmax ;
dz
b > 0 and c > a for xmax < x  1
5
where xmax is the value of the vapour quality corresponding
to the maximum of the local pressure gradient function. For
constant heat flux, the integral value over the maximum is:
Dp
x xin
cxout - xmax 2

zin ; zout a out
 
x xin
Dz
2
4 xout  out
2

This integral value depends not only on the mean value of

the vapour qualities, but also on the position of the maximum of the local pressure gradient function and on the vapour quality at the outlet. In particular, for fixed operating
conditions and fixed mean vapour quality between the inlet
and the outlet, increasing the heat flux diminishes the vapour
quality at the inlet and, consequently, the value of the integral pressure gradient. This is confirmed also by experiments

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

Fig. 1. Experimental pressure gradient data versus vapour quality

for different heat fluxes for R410A, D 13.8 mm, L 2.03 m
and G 300 kg/m2 s at 9.4 bar from ref. [10].

as reported in Fig. 1 that depicts the frictional integral pressure gradient data obtained at different heat fluxes for
R410A, D 13.8 mm, L 2.03 m, G 300 kg/m2 s at
9.4 bar [10]. The pressure gradient function is independent
of the heat flux in the region before the peak, since it is an
almost linear function of the vapour quality. In the experiments where the vapour quality of the peak in the pressure
gradient function is between the inlet and the outlet vapour
qualities, increasing the heat flux shifts the peaks to lower
vapour qualities, as the position of the maximum and the
transition from annular flow to dry-out. The integral pressure
gradient is lower than the local pressure gradient value at the
mean vapour quality and it diminishes increasing the heat
flux, as expected from Eq. (6).
At the same time, the data reduction procedure for diabatic measurements affects the values and the trends of
the experimental data and it is important to take this into
account before running a comparison. For example, Fig. 2
shows two different data reductions for experimental measurements [11] obtained at the same operating conditions
and with the same heating method. The first set of data is
obtained by fixing liquid saturated conditions at the inlet
and the pressure gradients from the liquid saturated condition to the actual vapor quality are reported as a function
of the vapour quality. The second set of data is obtained
by measuring the pressure drop between two vapour qualities and the pressure gradients are reported as a function
of the mean vapour quality. The data reported are both
integral measurements, but there are differences in values
and trends, expecially for high vapor qualities. The reason
is that the variation of the vapour quality over the measurement length is larger in the first case and the data are referred
to different vapour qualities.

1361

Fig. 2. Pressure gradients for R22, G 350 kg/m2 s and p 5.8 bar
at 18 kW/m2 for a horizontal smooth tube with an I.D. of 6.00 mm:
comparison between different data reduction methods (data from
ref. [11]).

4. The experimental database

The database used for the present comparison is the data
available at Federico II University of Napoli. It was developed for R22, its substitute R134a and other refrigerant
blends (R404A, R407C, R410A and R507A). In this paper,
new experimental data for the refrigerant R417A, a drop-in
substitute of R22, are also reported. Table 1 reports the
operating conditions in terms of saturation pressure (at the inlet of the test section), mass velocity and vapour quality. The
number of data for each operating condition is eight and there
are more then 150 different operating conditions over a wide
range of evaporating pressure and mass velocities.
5. Experimental test section, measurement method
and data reduction
The measurement test section is a horizontal smooth
stainless steel tube of 6000 mm length and 6.00 mm
I.D., heated uniformly by Joule effect. Two phase pressure
drops were directly measured using a differential pressure
transducer working over the range from 0 to 100 kPa
within an accuracy of 0.075% FS. The differential transducer was calibrated before use. Eight pressure taps are
located along the tube. They can be connected alternatively to a manifold in order to measure separately the
pressure drop between the inlet and several points during
evaporation. The local vapour quality was calculated by
an energy balance over the test section from the inlet to
the actual measurement station. The direct electrical power
was measured by an ampermeter and a voltmeter with an
accuracy in power measurement of 0.2%. The mass flow

1362

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

Table 1
Ranges of operating conditions for the experimental database
Refrigerants

Number of experimental data

Psat (bar)
Tsat ( C)
G (kg/m2 s)
q (kW/m2)
Vapour quality (%)

R22

R134a

R404A

R407C

R410A

R417A

R507A

193
4.9/10.1
6.5/19.9
380/1100
10/40
3e98

252
2.2/11.9
7.1/46.2
280/1080
5/38
5e94

63
3.3/11.7
18.4/22.1
290/1080
5/40
8e93

85
3.8/10.8
12.0/21.4
360/1100
5/40
2e94

121
4.8/12.2
15.2/14.0
360/1150
5/42
4e85

200
3.3/8.6
16.0/19.2
190/750
6/33
3e96

248
4.0/12.3
13.8/22.8
350/1100
8/38
2e90

rate was measured by a Coriolis meter with an accuracy of

0.2%. The inlet conditions were measured in the subcooled region measuring the static pressure and the temperature of the flow. The absolute error in vapour quality
measurement was 3.0%. All thermophysical properties
were calculated using REFPROP [12]. A more detailed
description of the test facility and its operating range are
reported in ref. [13].
From this measurement technique, the total pressure drop
during evaporation from saturated liquid condition to a fixed
outlet vapour quality is available. The measured pressure
drop is the sum of frictional and momentum pressure drops.
The momentum pressure drop is calculated by the following
expression:
#
# )
("
"
1  x2
x2
1  x2
x2
2
Dpmom G


rL 1  a rG a
rL 1  a rG a
out

in

7
In a recent work by Wojtan [14] it was found that the
Steiner [15] version of the Rouhani and Axelsson [16] drift
flux model is very accurate for predicting void fractions. The
recommended expression is:
"
!
x
x 1x

1 0:211  x
a
rG
rG
rL
#1
1:181  xgsrL  rG 0:25
8

G2 r0:5
L
The frictional pressure drop was calculated by subtracting the momentum contribution from the total pressure
drop. Finally, the pressure gradients were calculated by dividing the frictional pressure drop between the satured liquid
condition and the actual vapour quality by the length of the
tube corresponding to the actual measurement section.
The data were reported at the vapour quality at the exit of
the measurement test length. According to the procedure
suggested by Moffat [17] the uncertainty propagation analysis showed that the uncertainty in the momentum pressure
drop measurement is high, especially for low vapour qualities. For the frictional pressure gradients, 50.1% of the

reported experimental data are obtained with an uncertainty

less than 5% and 95.2% with an uncertainty less than 15%.
The data with an uncertainty greater then 15% are excluded
from the statistical analysis.
6. The comparison of the experimental data to the
predictive methods
In this section the comparison of the experimental
database against the following predictive methods is
presented: Moreno Quiben and Thome [8], Friedel [5],
Muller-Steinhagen and Heck [2], Gronnerud [4] and Jung
and Radermacher [18]. The procedure used to calculate
the predicted values is the integral method described above.
Fig. 3 depicts the direct comparison of the whole experimental database to the predictive methods.
To measure the accuracy of the predictions, a statistical
analysis was run. To run the statistical comparison, the experimental data were normalised with respect to the predicted ones and the following error function was used:

ER 

Dpexp
Dpcorr

1


1 if Dpexp < Dpcorr

This error function returns zero, when the predicted value

and the experimental one coincide; otherwise it is positive,
when the experimental value is lower than that predicted
and it is negative in the opposite case. For each experimental
data point, the error function was calculated for all predictive
methods. A statistical analysis of the values of the error function was carried out calculating the mean value and
the standard deviation both for the whole database and for
the data segregated by flow regimes. The mean value of the
selected error function will be zero for a symmetric distribution, i.e. when the experimental data are equally overestimated and underestimated and positive when the mean of
the predictions are conservative with respect to the experimental data. The standard deviation is calculated to measure
the scatter of the data distribution. The results for the whole
database and for the data segregated by flow regimes are reported in Table 2. To segregate the data by flow regime the

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

Fig. 3. Direct integral comparison of the experimental data against predicted values.

1363

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

1364

Table 2
Results of the statistical comparison
Number of
data points

Moreno Quiben
and Thome

Friedel

Gronnerud

Muller-Steinhagen
and Heck

Jung and
Radermacher

All data

Mean value of ER (%)

Standard deviation of ER (%)

1110

7
30

4
36

14
30

12
33

27
31

Intermittent
flow regime

Mean value of ER (%)

Standard deviation of ER (%)

510

10
33

17
33

11
31

3
33

27
35

Annular flow
regime

Mean value of ER (%)

Standard deviation of ER (%)

360

1
22

31
19

9
23

34
18

19
21

Dry-out flow
regime

Mean value of ER (%)

Standard deviation of ER (%)

129

14
26

21
28

35
21

16
28

41
21

overall results. But this was affected by the data distribution

with respect to the flow regimes. The analysis for each flow
regime showed different results. The methods predict the integral pressure drop with a different error depending on the
flow regime. The Friedel method was never the best for any
flow regime and this is not surprising since in the mean this
method underpredicted experimental data in the intermittent
region and overpredicted in the annular and dry-out
flow regimes. In the intermittent region, the method by

flow pattern map by Wojtan et al. [9] was used. The experimental data were filtered choosing only the tests with the
same flow regime at the inlet and at the outlet of the test section. Then they were reduced calculating the pressure drop
between two consecutive measurement stations and dividing
by the corresponding length. Hence, the predicted values are
calculated integrating the equations of each method at these
conditions. For the entire database, the Friedel method [5]
and Moreno Quiben and Thome method [7,8] gave the best

(a)

(b)

R22 D=6.00 [mm] G=353 [kg/m2s] p=5.06 [bar] q=18.3 [kW/m2]

R22 D=6.00 [mm] G=586 [kg/m s] p=8.18 [bar] q=27.2 [kW/m ]

700

700

560
M

420
I
280

Slug

140
0
0.0

0.4

0.6

0.8

I
420
280

0
0.0

1.0

SW
0.2

20
15

Moreno and Thome

Friedel
Grnnerud
MllerSteinhagen and Heck
JungRadermacher
Experimental data

10
5
0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

vapor quality

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.8

1.0

vapor quality

0.8

1.0

integral pressure gradient [kPa/m]

integral pressure gradient [kPa/m]

25

Slug

vapor quality
30

140

SW
0.2

G [kg/m2s]

G [kg/m2s]

560

15
12
9

Moreno and Thome

Friedel
Grnnerud
MllerSteinhagen and Heck
JungRadermacher
Experimental data

6
3
0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

vapor quality

Fig. 4. Flow pattern map and direct integral comparison of the experimental data against predicted values.

(a)

(b)
R410A D=6.00 [mm] G=360 [kg/m2s] p=7.16 [bar] q=35.4 [kW/m2]
600
M
480
D

360
I

240
120

360
240

Slug

120

Slug

0
0.0

SW

SW
0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0
0.0

1.0

0.2

0.4

10
Moreno and Thome
Friedel
Grnnerud
MllerSteinhagen and Heck
JungRadermacher
Experimental data

8
6
4
2
0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.8

1.0

vapor quality

0.6

0.8

1.0

integral pressure gradient [kPa/m]

vapor quality
integral pressure gradient [kPa/m]

1365

R407C D=6.00 [mm] G=361 [kg/m2s] p=9.91 [bar] q=16.9 [kW/m2]

600
M
480
D

G [kg/m2s]

G [kg/m2s]

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

15
Moreno and Thome
Friedel
Grnnerud
MllerSteinhagen and Heck
JungRadermacher
Experimental data

12
9
6
3
0
0.0

0.2

0.4

vapor quality

0.6

vapor quality

(c)

(d)

R417A D=6.00 [mm] G=405.2 [kg/m2s] p=5.8 [bar] q=17.7 [kW/m2]

600

R507A D=6.00 [mm] G=794 [kg/m2s] p=10.8 [bar] q=32.8 [kW/m2]

900

M
720

360

Slug

G [kg/m2s]

G [kg/m2s]

480

240
120
0
0.0

0.4

0.6

0.8

360

Slug

SW
0
0.0

1.0

0.2

Moreno and Thome

Friedel
Grnnerud
MllerSteinhagen and Heck
JungRadermacher
Experimental data

0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

vapor quality

0.8

1.0

integral pressure gradient [kPa/m]

integral pressure gradient [kPa/m]

16

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.8

1.0

vapor quality

vapor quality

12

180

SW
0.2

D
540

30
24
18

Moreno and Thome

Friedel
Grnnerud
MllerSteinhagen and Heck
JungRadermacher
Experimental data

12
6
0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

vapor quality

Fig. 5. Direct integral comparison of the experimental data against predicted values at selected operating conditions.

1366

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

Muller-Steinhagen and Heck [2] and by Moreno Quiben and

Thome [7,8] gave the more reliable predictions. Predictions
by Moreno Quiben and Thome method were the best in the
annular and dry-out flow regimes, where the predictions of
other methods were quite poor. To overcome the limits of
the statistical analysis, a further step was to evaluate how
well the predictive methods captured the trends of the integral
pressure drop function. For this reason a direct comparison of
the integral function for the methods and the experimental
data was carried out. To highlight the main results of the comparison, Fig. 4 depicts an example of the flow pattern map, the
corresponding integration of the predictive methods and the
experimental data at some representative operating conditions. It is clear that the Moreno Quiben and Thome method
best captures the trends of the integral pressure gradient function in all the range of vapour qualities. The Gronnerud [4]
and Jung and Radermacher [18] methods capture the trend
well up to the annular region, not the region of higher vapour
qualities, where dry-out occurs, a range of application of
prime importance for direct expansion evaporators. The other
methods are not very successful in predicting the trends of the
integral pressure gradient function. It is clear that Friedel
method overpredicts experimental data in the low vapour
quality region and underpredicts them in the annular flow regime, so in the statistical analysis for the whole database it
seems to be the best. To point out the sensitivity of the
methods to the variations of the operating parameters,
Fig. 5 depicts the integral comparison of the experimental
data to the predicted values varying refrigerant, evaporating
pressure and mass velocity. It is evident that, of the selected
methods, the one by Moreno Quiben and Thome is able to
capture the trends of the integral function in all the flow regimes varying the operating conditions and the fluids, even
if sometimes there is a difference between the predicted and
the measured values, especially at very high mass flow rates
and at the higher pressures, which were not represented in
its original database.
7. Conclusions
The approach to compare experimental two-phase pressure drop data against predictive methods can be local
or integral, as specified above. In the first case, a correct
procedure for the comparison requires that the experiments
be carried out over adiabatic test sections. For diabatic measurements it is mandatory to integrate a method over the
same conditions as in experiments. This requires the knowledge of not only the evaporation pressure, the mass velocity,
the diameter of the tube and the fluid but also the inlet conditions of the fluid, the length of the tube and the heating
conditions (variation of the heat flux along the tube). Different procedures could result in large errors in the predicted
calculations of these data, especially when making incorrect
data reductions of diabatic measurements in order to find the
local pressure gradient function. In this work, an integral
comparison of a database from University of Naples to

some leading predictive methods was carried out. The statistical analysis showed the methods by Moreno Quiben and
Thome [7,8] and Gronnerud [4] to be statistically the best.
The analysis of the methods when segregating the data by
flow regimes and by analyzing how well the methods replicated the actual experimental trends a direct comparison
showed that the method by Moreno Quiben and Thome is
able to give reliable predictions in the annular, intermittent
and dry-out flow regimes, while the Gronnerud method
worked well up to the annular flow regime. The other
methods yielded remarkable differences in the annular and
dry-out flow regimes. None of these methods is so far able
to capture well the effect of large variations in evaporating
pressure and mass velocity.
Acknowledgments
This work was developed thanks also to the short mobility term program for Ph.D. students by the Magnifico
Rettore of Federico II University of Naples (2006).

References
[1] C. Tribbe, H. Muller-Steinhagen, An evaluation of the performance of phenomenological models for predicting pressure
gradient during gaseliquid flow in horizontal pipelines,
Int. J. Multiphase Flow 26 (2000) 1019e1036.
[2] H. Muller-Steinhagen, K. Heck, A simple friction pressure
drop correlation for two-phase flow in pipes, Chem. Eng.
Process 20 (1986) 297e308.
[3] M.B. Ould-Didi, N. Kattan, J.R. Thome, Prediction of two
phase pressure gradients of refrigerants in horizontal tubes,
Int. J. Refrigeration 25 (2002) 935e947.
[4] R. Gronnerud, Investigation of liquid hold-up, flow-resistance
and heat transfer in circulation type evaporators, part IV: twophase flow resistance in boiling refrigerants, Bull. de lInst. du
Froid (1979) (Annexe 1972-1).
[5] L. Friedel, Improved friction pressure drop correlations for horizontal and vertical two-phase pipe flow, in: European Two-Phase
Flow Group Meeting, Paper E2, 1979 June, Ispra, Italy.
[6] N. Kattan, Contribution to the Heat Transfer Analysis of
Substitute Refrigerants in Evaporator Tubes with Smooth or
Enhanced Tube Surfaces, Ph.D. thesis N 1498, Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1996.
[7] J. Moreno Quiben, J.R. Thome, Flow pattern based two-phase
frictional pressure drop model for horizontal tubes, part I:
diabatic and adiabatic experimental study, Int. J. Heat Fluid
Flow, doi:10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2007.01.003.
[8] J. Moreno Quiben, J.R. Thome, Flow pattern based two-phase
frictional pressure drop model for horizontal tubes, part II:
new phenomenological model, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow,
doi:10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2007.01.004.
[9] L. Wojtan, T. Ursenbacher, J.R. Thome, Investigation of flow boiling in horizontal tubes: part I e a new diabatic two phase flow
pattern map, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 48 (2005) 2955e2969.
[10] J. Moreno Quiben, Experimental and Analytical Study of
Two-Phase Pressure Drops during Evaporation in Horizontal
Tubes, Ph.D. thesis N 3337, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2005.

A.W. Mauro et al. / International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1358e1367

[11] A.W. Mauro, Determinazione sperimentale e studio analitico
delle perdite di carico durante levaporazione in convezione
forzata di fluidi refrigeranti, Ph.D. thesis, University of
Naples, Italy, 2006.
[12] REFPROP, NIST, Refrigerant Properties Database 23,
Gaithersburg, MD, 1998, Version 6.01.
[13] A. Greco, G.P. Vanoli, Flow boiling of R22, R134a, R507,
R404A and R410A inside a smooth horizontal tube, Int. J.
Refrigeration 28 (2005) 872e880.
[14] L. Wojtan, Experimental and Analytical Investigation of Void
Fraction and Heat Transfer During Evaporation in Horizontal
Tubes, Thesis N 2978, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,
Lausanne, Switzerland, 2004.

1367

[15] D. Steiner, VDI-Warmeatlas. (VDI Heat Atlas), in: Verein

Deutscher Ingenieeure (Ed.), VDI-Gellschaft Verfahrenstechnik
und Chemieingenieurwesen (GCV), Dusseldorf, 1993
(Chapter Hbb).
[16] Z. Rouhani, E. Axelsson, Calculation of void volume fraction
in the subcooled and quality boiling regions, Int. J. Heat Mass
Transfer 13 (1970) 383e393.
[17] R.J. Moffat, Describing uncertainties in experimental results,
Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 1 (1988) 3e17.
[18] D.S. Jung, R. Radermacher, Prediction of pressure drop
during horizontal annular flow boiling of pure and
mixed refrigerants, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 32 (1989)
2435e2446.