Algebraic solution of capillary tube flows. Part II: Capillary tube suction line heat exchangers

Capillary tube suction line heat exchangers have been modeled using both numerical and analytical approaches. The former requires a reasonable understanding of the governing heat and fluid flow equations, thermodynamic relations, numerical methods, and computer programming, and therefore are not suitable for most refrigeration and air-conditioning practitioners. Alternatively, empirical algebraic formulations for diabatic capillary tube flows have been proposed in the literature, in spite of their lack of generality and accuracy. This paper introduces a physically consistent, unconditionally convergent, easy-to-implement semi-empirical algebraic model for capillary tube suction line heat exchangers, with the same level of accuracy as found with more sophisticated first-principles models. The methodology treats the refrigerant flow and the heat transfer as independent phenomena, thus allowing the derivation of explicit algebraic expressions for the refrigerant mass flow rate and the heat exchanger effectiveness. The thermal and hydraulic models are then conflated through the so-called Buckingham-π theorem using in-house experimental data collected for diabatic capillary tube flows of refrigerants HFC-134a and HC-600a. Comparisons between the model predictions and the experimental data revealed that more than 90% and nearly 100% of all data can be predicted within ±10% and ±15% error bands, respectively.