Refrigerant distributor, heat exchanger, and air-conditioning apparatus

A refrigerant distributor comprising:

• an outer pipe through which refrigerant flows and to which a plurality of heat transfer pipes are connected at a predetermined spacing from each other;
• an inner pipe, housed in the outer pipe, through which the refrigerant flows and that has a refrigerant outflow hole through which the refrigerant flows out of the inner pipe into the outer pipe, and
• a structural part with which the inner pip or the outer pipe is provided, in which the refrigerant enters an undeveloped state of two-phase gas-liquid flow, and through which the refrigerant flows into the inner pipe,
• wherein the refrigerant outflow hole is such that an angle between a lower end of the inner pipe on a vertical line passing through a center of the inner pipe and a position of presence of the refrigerant outflow hole as seen from the center of the inner pipe satisfies φD0<θ<φDS, where φD0=(−0.0408×AS+74.124)×0.62, φDs=(−0.0408×AS+74.124)×1.2, φD0 is a liquid-surface angle of the refrigerant in a case in which it is assumed that a gas-liquid slip ratio of the refrigerant is 1 and a gas-liquid interface of the refrigerant is flat and horizontal, φDS is a liquid surface angle of the refrigerant, and AS [mm2] is a flow passage cross-sectional area of the inner pipe.

A refrigerant distributor comprising:

• an outer pipe through which refrigerant flows and to which a plurality of heat transfer pipes are connected at a predetermined spacing from each other;
• an inner pipe, housed in the outer pipe, through which the refrigerant flows and that has a refrigerant outflow hole through which the refrigerant flows out of the inner pipe into the outer pipe;
• and
• a structural part with which the inner pipe or the outer pipe is provided, in which the refrigerant enters an undeveloped state of two-phase gas-liquid flow, and through which the refrigerant flows into the inner pipe,
• wherein
• the refrigerant outflow hole is provided such that an angle θ between a lower end of the inner pipe on a vertical line passing through a center of the inner pipe and a position of presence of the refrigerant outflow hole as seen from the center of the inner pipe falls within a range of 10 degrees≤θ≤80 degrees, and
• the refrigerant outflow hole comprises a sole refrigerant outflow hole provided in a vertical cross-section of the inner pipe at a position where the refrigerant outflow hole is provided,
• in a case in which the refrigerant distributor comprises two of the refrigerant distributors, one of which is a first refrigerant distributor and an other of which is a second refrigerant distributor, an inner pipe of the first heat exchanger and an inner pipe of the second heat exchanger are connected by a bent inner pipe, and
• an angle θ2 of the refrigerant outflow hole of the second refrigerant distributor is larger in absolute value within a range of −180 degrees to 180 degrees than an angle θ1 of the refrigerant outflow hole of the first refrigerant distributor.