LAMINAR FLOW HEAT TRANSFER WITH INLINE MIXERS INSERTS

Heat transfer coefficients were measured for heat transfer to a Newtonian fluid flowing in laminar flow through a tube with inline mixer inserts. Kenics “Static” mixer and Ross LPD mixer inserts were studied as heat transfer augmentation devices. The mixer inserts were in the inner tube of a concentric tube heat exchanger. Steam was condensed in the annulus of the exchanger. Significant heat transfer enhancement was obtained with both inserts at the expense of even greater pressure drop increases. The use of the Ross mixer insert gave greater augmentation than did the use of the kenics insert. An analysis using the analogy between momentum and heat transfer allowed the prediction of heat transfer coefficients from pressure drop measurements. The predicted coefficients were in good agreement with experimentally measured heat transfer coefficients for laminar flow.