Two phase flow pressure drop measurement analysis in a horizontal rectangular minichannel T-junction.

T-junction geometry as a connection in a two-phase minichannel flow system is widely used, for both mixing and flow separation processes. When passing through the T-junction region, the uneven distribution of the two-phase flow can occur due to interfacial instability at the corner of the T-junction and affect the pressure drop characteristics in the downstream area. The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of pressure drop fluctuations measurement using statistical analysis, PDF, and PSD. This research was conducted on a horizontal rectangular minichannel T-junction test section with a hydraulic diameter of 1.6 mm. In the T-junction bend section, the bend radius is made with a size of half the hydraulic diameter (0.8 mm). The working fluids are water and air. To measure the pressure drop, a differential pressure transducer is used and installed between the T-junction and downstream areas. Statistical analysis of experimental data, such as the average of ΔP, standard deviation, PDF, kurtosis, skewnes and PDS are used to identify the characteristics of pressure drop fluctuations. The results of this study, it was found that both the superficial velocity of water and air have an effect on the pressure drop, but the effect of the superficial velocity of water has a more significant. Meanwhile, the effect of air superficial velocity is more significant on standard deviation, PDF and PSD than water superficial velocity. The comparison between the experimental data and the separated flow correlation model from Lockhart-Martenelli, Mishima-Hibiki, and Sudarja shows the value of conformity with an error margin of ± 30%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]