A new correlation of two-phase frictional pressure drop for condensing flow in pipes

The calculation of two-phase frictional pressure drop for condensing flow in pipes is essential in many areas. Although numerous studies concerning this issue have been conducted, an accurate correlation is still required. In this paper, an overall survey of correlations and experimental investigations of two-phase frictional pressure drop is carried out. There 525 experimental data points of 9 refrigerants are gathered from literature, with hydraulic diameter from 0.1 to 10.07 mm, mass flux from 20 to 800 kg/m2 s, and heat flux from 2 to 55.3 kW/m2. The 29 existing correlations are evaluated against the experimental database, among which the best one has a mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) of 25.2%. Based on all the experimental data, a new correlation which has an MARD of 19.4% is proposed, improving significantly the prediction of two-phase frictional pressure drop for pipe condensing flow.