Abstract

This paper presents the results of experiential investigations of pressure drop in minichannels with use of water as the working fluid. The test section was made from stainless steel pipes with internal diameters of 0.55 mm, 0.64 mm and 1.10 mm respectively. A pressure drop was presented per a length unit as the function of Reynolds number both for laminar and turbulent flow. A comparison of the experimental friction factor with the results obtained from theoretical equations of Hagen-Poiseuille and Blasius are presented. The experiments were conducted in range of Reynolds number Re = 30 ÷ 6 400. Contradictory reports concerning a sooner transition to the turbulent flow, or the friction factor values which diverge from those occurring in conventional channels, were not confirmed here. 

New experimental data presented in this paper constitute further contribution to the world’s database of experimental results which constitute the basis for a verification of the existing theories or attempts to create new computational models.