Alternative Refrigerant Evaluation Loop

A fully instrumented closed circulation test facility is available for the testing of new ozone safe alternative refrigerants during forced convective boiling. The cold portion of the loop contains a tube and shell subcooler, an accumulator/pressurizer, a turbine and/or centrifugal pump. Flow rates are measured via both a turbine flowmeter and a rotameter. The hot portion of the loop consists of a preheater, the test section and a separator/condenser. The facility is fully equipped with accurate pressure transducers as well as standard pressure gauges and a high pressure manometer. One of the test sections includes a transparent section for flow visualization. Flow visualization will enable the study of bubble growth dynamics, void growth and formation, as well as the flow regime development. Data is obtained through high speed data acquisition utilizing LabTech Notebook software.