Thermodynamic analysis of a diabatic two-phase flow for a pure refrigerant and a refrigerant/oil mixture under equilibrium conditions

Two different definitions of the vapor quality during a diabatic two-phase flow with and without the presence of oil are presented in this paper: the well-known vapor flow quality and the thermodynamic vapor quality. The vapor flow quality is based on the mass flow rates whereas the thermodynamic vapor quality is based on the mass. Two-phase thermodynamic diagrams for pure R-134a and R-134a/oil mixture are plotted for different slip ratios. It is shown that the iso-flow quality lines are moved to lower enthalpies for larger slip ratios. In addition, the maximum vapor flow quality of a fluid/oil mixture is shown to increase when increasing the slip ratio whereas the maximum thermodynamic vapor quality remains constant. In addition, the correct expression of the elementary derivative of the vapor quality is also proposed, highlighting the role of the heat capacity at constant vapor quality.