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Noise reduction of refrigerant two-phase flow using flow conditioners near the electric expansion valve

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Abstract

Two-phase flow, particularly generated in an expansion device, is a primary cause of refrigerant-induced noise in an air-conditioning system. The indoor unit (IDU) of a multi-split air source heat pump (ASHP) for both heating and cooling must include an electric expansion valve (EEV); therefore, consumers have perceived the increased noise. To reduce this noise, we experimentally investigated the two-phase flow and consequent noise by applying a honeycomb and porous metal as a flow conditioner to the EEV in the IDU of a multi-split ASHP. Flow conditioning near the EEV with the honeycomb and porous metal made the two-phase flow steadier and more uniform, leading to reduced noise and frequency variation for the three heat operation modes of a multi-split ASHP. The noise reduction was also verified in the transient operating modes of a real IDU.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning) (No. 2016R1A2B3009541), and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) granted financial resources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea (No. 20184010201710).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Korea

    Gangjune Kim & Simon Song

  2. Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Korea

    Simon Song

Authors
  1. Gangjune Kim
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  2. Simon Song
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Song.

Additional information

Recommended by Editor Yang Na

Gangjune Kim is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. His research interests are noise reduction of refrigerant two-phase flow and flow pattern classification using flow visualization and machine learning techniques.

Simon Song is a Professor of Department of Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. He received Ph.D. at Stanford University in 2002. His research interests include flow visualization using magnetic resonance velocimetry, microfluidics, flow system design and etc.

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Kim, G., Song, S. Noise reduction of refrigerant two-phase flow using flow conditioners near the electric expansion valve. J Mech Sci Technol 34, 719–725 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-0118-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-020-0118-3

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