Heat Transfer Performance of an Edge-Shaped Finned Tube

The third-generation heat transfer technologies, such as three-dimensional fin and dimple, are still important means of improving energy efficiency and will continue to be challenging issues. This paper presents condensation heat transfer performance of an edge-shaped finned tube fabricated by a ploughing–extruding process. The edge-shaped finned tube integrates more than one heat transfer enhancement technology and can enhance the heat transfer capacity greatly. It is seen that the overall heat transfer coefficient and heat flux increase with inlet velocity of cold water increasing, and decrease with inlet temperature of cold water increasing, whereas the shell-side heat transfer coefficient decreases with inlet velocity of cold water increasing and increases with inlet temperature of cold water increasing. At the same inlet velocity, the shell-side heat transfer coefficient for the edge-shaped finned tube is improved by 5–7 times compared to that of a smooth tube. At the same temperature difference between wall and vapor, the shell-side heat transfer coefficient is also higher than what had been reported in the literature. The shell-side heat transfer coefficient of the edge-shaped finned tube decreases with the increase of fabrication parameter feed at the same inlet velocity or inlet temperature of cold water.     

Evaporation Heat Transfer Coefficients of R-446A

ABSTRACT

The present study investigated the evaporation heat transfer coefficients of R-446A, as a low global warming potential alternative refrigerant to R-410A. The evaporation heat transfer coefficients were obtained by measuring the wall temperature of a straight stainless tube and refrigerant pressure. The heat transfer coefficients were measured for the quality range from 0.05 to 0.95, the mass flux from 100 to 400 kg/m²s, heat flux from 10 to 30 kW/m², and saturation temperature from 5 to 10°C. The evaporation heat transfer coefficient of R-410A was verified by comparing the measured evaporation heat transfer coefficient with the value predicted by the existing correlation. The evaporation heat transfer coefficient of R-446A was measured using a proven experimental apparatus. When the heat flux was 10 kW/m², the evaporation heat transfer coefficient of R-446A was always higher than that of R-410A. But, when the heat flux was 30 kW/m², the evaporation heat transfer coefficient of R-446A was measured to be lower than that of R-410A near the dry-out point. The effect of the tube diameter on the R-446A evaporation heat transfer coefficient was negligible. The effect of saturation pressure on the evaporation heat transfer coefficient was prominent in the low quality region where the nucleate boiling was dominant.     

Heat transfer coefficients under dry- and wet-surface conditions for a spirally coiled finned tube heat exchanger

In the present study, the average tube-side and air-side heat transfer coefficients in a spirally coiled finned tube heat exchanger under dry- and wet-surface conditions are experimentally investigated. The test section is a spiral-coil heat exchanger, which consists of six layers of concentric spirally coiled tube. Each tube is fabricated by bending a 9.6-mm outside diameter straight copper tube into a spiral coil of four turns. Aluminium fins with thickness 0.6 mm and outside diameter 28.4 mm are placed helically around the tube. The chilled water and the hot air are used as working fluids. The test runs are done at the air and water mass flow rates ranging between 0.02 and 0.2 kg/s and between 0.04 and 0.25 kg/s, respectively. The inlet-air and -water temperatures are between 35 and 60 °C and between 10 and 35 °C, respectively. The effects of the inlet conditions of both working fluids flowing through the heat exchanger on the heat transfer coefficients are discussed. New correlations based on the data gathered during this work for predicting the tube-side and air-side heat transfer coefficients for the spirally coiled finned tube heat exchanger are proposed.     

Critical Heat Flux of R134a and R245fa Inside Small-Diameter Tubes

This article presents new experimental critical heat flux results under saturated flow boiling conditions for a macro-/microscale tube. The data were obtained in a horizontal 2.20-mm inside diameter stainless-steel tube with heating lengths of 361 and 154 mm, R134a and R245fa as working fluids, mass velocities ranging from 100 to 1500 kg/m²-s, critical heat flux from 25 to 300 kW/m², exit saturation temperatures of 25, 31, and 35°C, and critical vapor qualities ranging from 0.55 to 1. The experimental results show that critical heat flux (CHF) increases with increasing mass velocity and inlet subcooling but decreases with increasing saturation temperature and heated length. The data also indicated a higher CHF for R245fa when compared with R134a at similar conditions. The experimental data were compared against four CHF predictive methods and the results of the comparisons are reported.     

EHD Augmented Convective Boiling: Flow Regimes and Enhanced Heat Transfer

This work investigates the influence of electrohydrodynamics (EHD) on the flow and heat transfer during convective boiling of HFE7000. A unique tube-and-shell heat exchanger has been constructed with heated water flowing on the shell side and a saturated mixture of refrigerant flowing within the tube side. The heat exchanger is novel in that it allows full visual access to the flow in the inner tube while being both thermally and electrically conductive. This permits observation of the two-phase flow regimes, which is not possible with metallic test sections. In this work the influence of EHD on the flow regimes and subsequent overall heat transfer is investigated for fixed inlet refrigerant mass flux of 100 kg/m²-s, inlet quality of 3%, and wall superheat of approximately 11.5°C. For these conditions the applied voltage across a concentric inner electrode and the outer wall of the tube was varied between 0 kV and 10 kV at 60 Hz AC. In particular, this work focuses on quantifying the level of overall enhancement that is achievable with EHD for this heat exchanger. This is done in the context of the additional heat extracted by the working fluid in the heat exchanger compared with the field-free case and the additional power penalties required to do so. Heat transfer enhancements of up to 1.8 -fold were realized in this heat exchanger. Even so, there were hydraulic power increases as well as electrical power required to achieve the heat transfer enhancement. It was found that the electrical power was the dominant penalty and that an overall enhancement of 40 times more heat power extracted than input required was achieved. Finally, a proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control system has been utilized in conjunction with a high-voltage amplifier in order to accurately control the heat transfer rate of the heat exchanger. To our knowledge this is the first solid-state control system of this type for a two-phase heat exchanger.     

Correlation of Evaporation Heat Transfer Inside 8.8 mm and 7.14 mm Horizontal Round Micro-Fin Tubes

Experimental investigations of evaporation heat transfer of R22 and R410A inside a horizontal micro-fin copper tube have been conducted and are reported here. Six micro-fin tubes with inner diameter of 7.14 mm and three micro-fin tubes with inner diameter of 8.8 mm but with different geometric parameters, such as the apex angle, the helical angle, fin height, fin pitch, and starts were tested. The evaporation experiments were taken at a constant temperature of 6°C. Moreover, working conditions of the experiments varied with the mass flux ranging from 100 kg/(m².s) to 400 kg/(m².s). For the evaporation experiments of Tube 1 – Tube 6 with R22, the inlet and outlet vapor quality is set as 0.1 and 0.9, respectively. For the evaporation experiments of Tube 7 – Tube 9 with R410A, the inlet and outlet vapor quality is set as 0.2 and 0.9, respectively. The heat transfer coefficients and the changing trend of the heat transfer coefficients vary among these tubes. The influence of each geometric parameter on the heat transfer performance of the micro-fin tube has been analyzed and is reported. Besides, correlations of evaporation heat transfer inside 8.8 mm or less horizontal round micro-fin tubes were developed.     

Numerical simulation of R410A condensation in horizontal microfin tubes

The heat transfer characteristics of condensation for R410A inside horizontal microfin tubes with 0° and 18° helical angles were investigated numerically. The numerical data fit well with the experimental results and with the empirical correlations. The results indicate that local heat transfer coefficients increase with increasing mass flux, vapor quality, and helical angle. The heat transfer enhancement in the helical microfin tubes is more pronounced at higher mass flux and vapor quality. The centrifugal force induced by the microfin with a 18° helical angle tends to spread the liquid from the bottom to the top, leading to a nearly symmetrical liquid–vapor interface during condensation. Swirling flows in the liquid phase are observed in the tube with the 18° helical angle, but the liquid phase tends to flow to the bottom due to gravity in the tube with the 0° helical angle.     

Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer and Resistance Characteristics of a Finned Oval-Tube Heat Exchanger With Different Air Inlet Angles

The air inlet flow direction is not orthogonal to the heat exchanger surface in many cases. To study the performance of the heat transfer and pressure drop of a heat exchanger with different air inlet angles, this paper shows the experimental system about a finned oval-tube heat exchanger inclined toward the air incoming flow direction. The heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of four air inlet angles (90°, 60°, 45°, and 30°) are studied separately for the Reynolds number ranging from 1300 to 13000 in this study. The experimental correlations of Nusselt number and resistance coefficient of the air side are acquired. The results show that the overall heat transfer coefficients become smaller and smaller with the decrease of the air inlet angles, while the pressure drops have significant changes. The heat transfer performances of the heat exchanger under the three inclined air inlet angles are worse than that at 90°. Among the three inclined angles, the performance at 45° is the best under identical mass flow rate criterion and at low Reynolds number under identical pressure drop criterion; that at 60° is the best at large Reynolds under identical pressure drop criterion. Finally, some conclusions are attained about the effects of the air inlet angles on the heat transfer and pressure drop performance of the finned oval-tube heat exchanger.     

An Investigation on Heat Transfer to Supercritical Water in Inclined Upward Smooth Tubes

Within the range of pressures from 23 to 30 MPa, mass velocities from 600 to 1200 kg/(m²s), and heat fluxes from 200 to 600 kW/m², experiments have been performed for an investigation on heat transfer to supercritical water in inclined upward smooth tubes with an inner diameter of 26 mm and an inclined angle of 20° from the horizon. The results indicated that heat transfer characteristics of supercritical water are not uniform along the circumference of the inclined tube. An increase in the mass velocity of the working fluid can decrease and even eliminate the non-uniformity. Properties of supercritical fluid acutely vary with the temperature near the pseudocritical point. While the ratio of the mass velocity to the heat flux exceeded 2.16 kg/(kWs), heat transfer enhancement occurred near the pseudocritical point; conversely, heat transfer deterioration occurred while the ratio of the mass velocity to the heat flux was lower than 2.16 kg/(kWs). As the pressure increased far from the critical pressure, the amount of deterioration decreased. Correlations of heat transfer coefficients of the forced-convection heat transfer on the top and bottom of the tube have been provided, and can be used to predict heat transfer coefficient of spirally water wall in supercritical boilers.     

Experimental Study of Condensation in a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger in the Presence of a Noncondensable Gas

In this paper, an experimental study of the condensation of water vapor from a binary mixture of air and low‐grade steam has been depicted. The study is based upon diffusion heat transfer in the presence of high concentration of noncondensable gas. To simplify the study, experimental analysis is supported by empirical solutions. The experimental setup is custom designed for testing a new shell and tube type heat exchanger supplied by the manufacturer. Air–vapor mixture at 80 °C (max) and 20.2% relative humidity enters the heat exchanger at a mass flow rate of 480 kg/h and condenses 27 kg/h vapor using cooling water at an inlet temperature of 7 °C to 10 °C and mass flow rate of 3500 kg/h. By using the experimental data of constant inlet air mass fraction, mixture gas velocity, and different volumetric flow rate of the cold fluid, the local heat transfer coefficients are obtained. The main objective of this work is to establish an approximate value for surface area and overall heat transfer coefficient of a horizontal shell and tube condenser used in process space. Under designed working conditions, the condenser is found to work efficiently with 90% vapor condensation by mass.     

Enhancement of Heat Transfer for Plate Fin Heat Exchangers Considering the Effects of Fin Arrangements

In the present study, the potential of rectangular fins with different fin types of inner zigzag-flat-outer zigzag (B-type) and outer zigzag-flat-outer zigzag (C-type) and with different fin angles of 30° and 90° for 2 mm fin height and 10 mm offset from the horizontal direction for heat transfer enhancement with the use of a conjugated heat transfer approach and for pressure drop in a plate fin heat exchanger is numerically evaluated. The rectangular fins are located on a flat plate channel (A-type). The numerical computations are performed by solving a steady, three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation and an energy equation by using FLUENT software program. Air is taken as working fluid. The study is carried out at Reynolds number of 400 and inlet temperatures, velocities of cold and hot air are fixed as 300 K, 600 K and 1.338 m.s^?1, 0.69 m.s^?1, respectively. This study presents new fin geometries which have not been researched in the literature for plate fin heat exchangers. The results show that while the heat transfer is increased by about 10% at the exit of a channel with the fin type of C, it is increased up to 8% for the fin angle of 90° when compared to a channel with A-type under the counter flow. The heat transfer enhancements for different values of Reynolds number and for varying fin heights, fin intervals and also temperature distributions of fluids are investigated for parallel and counter flow.     

Heat transfer in a crater bed

The aim of this work is to study heat transfer in a laboratory scale crater bed, which was set up from a cylindrical acrylic/quartz tube, using sand as the bed particle. The bed employs a downward gas jet from a nozzle which causes the particles to ascend fountain-like into the freebroad, leaving a crater on the bed surface. After reaching a certain height, these particles will descend again to the bed surface and move into the crater, where the cycle or circulation pattern starts again. The study had been separated into three parts. Firstly, the void fraction of the bed fountain zone was studied by direct measurement of the ascending sand weight within the specific volume. Secondly, the convection heat transfer coefficients between the fountain zone and the external surface of the gas inlet tube were determined by measuring the quantity of heat loss from an electrical heater that was wrapped on the outside surface at desired positions of the gas inlet tube. Thirdly, the radiation heat transfer coefficients were evaluated by heat balance of LPG combustion in the crater bed. From experimental results, the void fraction of the fountain zone could be approximated as a dilute bed (>0.98). For convective heat transfer coefficients, the value found experimentally varied from 80–260 W/m² K depending on the experimental conditions, showing an increase when the gas velocity increases, and a decrease along the height of the gas inlet tube. Radiation heat transfer coefficients, the values of which are (within the experimental temperature range), the same order as the convective mode, increase when the bed temperature is increased and when the bed particle diameter is decreased. Empirical correlations for both bed voidage and heat transfer coefficients are proposed. The combined model, gas and particle convection and the published data on radiation heat transfer, showed good prediction when compared with experimental data.     

Effects of Different Fin Spacings on the Nusselt Number and Reynolds Number in Perforated Finned Heat Exchangers

In this study, the effect of holes placed on perforated finned heat exchangers on convective heat transfer was experimentally investigated. Six-millimeter-diameter holes were opened on each circular fin on a heating tube in order to increase convective heat transfer. These holes were placed on the circular fins in such a way as to follow each other at the same chosen angle. The holes created turbulence in a region near the heating tube surface on the bottom of the fin. Experiments were then performed to analyze the effect of this turbulence on heat transfer and pressure drop. These experiments were carried out at five different fin spacings at the angular locations of 30° and 60° in order to determine the optimum fin spacing. Moreover, further experiments were carried out for counterflow and parallel-flow arrangements to determine the effects of the flow directions of the heating fluid and heated fluid. Results show an increase in Nusselt number with increasing modified Reynolds number. In addition, when different fin spacing to heating tube external diameter ratios were examined, at a ratio of 0.414 and angular locations of 30° and 60°, 11% and 8.6% increase in heat transfer were obtained, respectively, for parallel-flow arrangement compared to counterflow. For parallel flow, pressure drop values were 3.5% and 3.8% lower at 30° and 60°, respectively.     

Numerical Investigation of Conjugate Heat Transfer to Supercritical CO2 in a Vertical Tube-in-Tube Heat Exchanger

Conjugate heat transfer to supercritical CO₂ in a vertical tube-in-tube heat exchanger was numerically investigated. The results demonstrate that most models considered are able to reproduce the heat transfer processes qualitatively, and the Abe, Kondoh, and Nagano model shows optimal agreement with the experimental data. The influences of hot fluid mass flux and temperature of the shell side, supercritical fluid mass flux of the tube side, flow direction, and pipe diameter on conjugate heat transfer were investigated based on velocity and turbulence fields. It is concluded that hot fluid mass flux and temperature of the shell side significantly affect heat transfer of the tube side. Mixed convection is the main heat transfer mechanism for the supercritical CO₂ conjugate heat transfer process when the inner diameter of the tube is greater than 1 mm. In addition, density variation is highly significant for heat transfer of supercritical CO₂ while high viscosity hinders the distortion of the flow field and reduces deterioration in heat transfer.     

Numerical simulation of condensation for R410A at varying saturation temperatures in mini/micro tubes

ABSTRACT

Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of condensation for R410A inside horizontal tubes (d_h = 0.25, 1, and 2 mm) at saturation temperatures Tsat = 310, 320, and 330 K are investigated numerically. The results indicate that local heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop gradients increase with increasing mass flux and vapor quality and with decreasing tube diameter and saturation temperature. Liquid film thickness also increases with increasing saturation temperature because of the lower surface tension at higher saturation temperature. When gravity dominates the condensation process, a vortex with its core lying at the bottom of the tube is found in the vapor phase region. For the annular flow regime, stream traces point from the symmetry plan to the liquid–vapor interface, where the vapor phase becomes the liquid phase. Numerical heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop gradients are compared to available empirical correlations. Two new models for heat transfer coefficients and frictional pressure drop gradients are developed based on the numerical work.     

Experimental Investigation on Critical Heat Flux for Water Flowing in a Vertical Uniformly Heated Rifled Tube under Near-critical Pressures

This study experimentally investigated the critical heat flux(CHF) of departure from nucleate boiling(DNB) of water flowing under near-critical pressures in a 2 m-long vertical upward rifled tube with the size of Φ35 × 5.67 mm. Operating conditions included pressures of 18–21 MPa, mass fluxes of 475–1000 kg·m~(-2)·s~(-1), inlet subcooling temperatures of 3–5°C, and wall heat fluxes of 40–960 kW·m~(-2). Tube wall temperature distribution and heat transfer performance in different test conditions were obtained. The effects of the operating parameters on CHF were analyzed. Four heat transfer coefficient correlations were evaluated against our experimental data for further investigation of the two-phase heat transfer characteristics. A heat transfer correlation based on Martinelli number utilized in two-phase region and two empirical correlations used to predict the CHF in rifled tube at near-critical pressures were proposed. Meanwhile, experimental CHF data in rifled tube were compared with six widely used correlations and a CHF look-up table. The CHF enhancement effect in rifled tube is obvious as compared with the CHF data in smooth tube. Results show that DNB occurs at low vapor quality and subcooled region in the rifled tube at near-critical pressures. The increase in pressure leads to the early occurrence of DNB and the decrease in CHF, whereas the increase in mass flux delays the occurrence of DNB and results in the increase in CHF. DNB presents a tendency to move toward the inlet of the rifled tube. At individual operating conditions, DNB and dryout coexist at different sections of the rifled tube.     

Heat transfer coefficients in two phase flow for the water/lithium bromide mixture used in solar absorption refrigeration systems

This paper describes the experimental results obtained from the heat transfer in saturated nucleate boiling for the water/lithium bromide mixture flowing upward in a uniformly heated vertical tube, which is the generator of a solar absorption refrigeration system. The concentration range for the mixture was from 48 to 56 wt.% Plots of local and average heat transfer coefficients are shown against solution concentration, heat flux and the temperature difference between the wall tube and the fluid. It was observed that the average heat transfer coefficients increased for the mixture with an increase of the heat flux and with the decrease of the solution concentration and the temperature difference. The average heat transfer coefficients varied from 1.0 to 4.0 kW/m² °C.     

Visualization on flow patterns during condensation of R410A in a vertical rectangular channel

The visualization experiments on HFC R410A condensation in a vertical rectangular channel （14.34mm hydraulic diameter, 160mm length） were investigated. The flow patterns and heat transfer coefficients of condensation in the inlet region were presented in this paper. Better heat transfer performance can be obtained in the inlet region, and flow regime transition in other regions of the channel was also observed. Condensation experiments were carried out at different mass fluxes （ from 1.6 kg/h to 5.2 kg/h） and at saturation temperature 28~ C. It was found that the flow patterns were mainly dominated by gravity at low mass fluxes. The effects of interfacial shear stress on condensate fluctuation are significant for the film condensation at higher mass flux in vertical flow, and con- sequently, the condensation heat transfer coefficient increases with the mass flux in the experimental conditions, The drop formation and growth process of condensation were also observed at considerably low refrigerant vapor flow rate.     

Experimental and numerical study on heat transfer and flow characteristics in an alternating cross‐section flattened tube

An experimental and numerical study on convection heat transfer of water flowing through an alternating cross‐section flattened (ACF) tube are investigated in this paper. The thermal‐fluid characteristics were evaluated by numerical simulation. The test run conditions covered a mass flux of 200 to 800 kg m^?2 s^?1, a heat flux of 10 kW/m², and an inlet temperature of 40°C. The results showed that the Nusselt number increased with the increase in mass flux. Moreover, the heat transfer was also affected by the flow characteristics. Vortices were formed at the curved wall, and their intensities were increased along the flow direction. It was also found that the heat transfer and pressure drop were larger than that of the circular tube. However, the thermal performance was greater than the pressure loss penalty. The comparison results showed that the ACF tube had better performance than the circular tube. Further, the details of heat transfer, flow resistance, and fluid behavior were investigated and discussed in this study.     

Mathematical Model for Predicting the Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Helical-Coiled,Crimped, Spiral,Finned-Tube Heat Exchanger

This paper is a continuation of the authors’ previous work. Theoretical and experimental studies of the heat transfer characteristics of a helical-coiled, crimped, spiral, finned-tube heat exchanger in dry surface conditions are presented. The test section is a helical-coiled, finned-tube heat exchanger. The coil unit is composed of four concentric helical-coiled tubes of different diameters. All tubes are constructed by bending straight copper tube into seven layers of helical coil. Aluminum crimped spiral fins, with an outer diameter of 28.25 mm and a thickness of 0.5 mm, are connected around the tube. Hot water is used as a working fluid for the tube side, while ambient air is used for the shell side. The test runs are done at air mass flow rates ranging between 0.04 and 0.13 kg/s. The water mass flow rates are between 0.2 and 0.4 kg/s. The water temperatures are between 40 and 50°C. A mathematical model is developed and the simulation results show reasonable agreement with the experimental data.