Prediction of film boiling heat transfer coefficients for binary mixtures

Film boiling of binary liquid mixtures may be significantly different from that of single-component liquids due to the mass diffusion effect. A theoretical analysis is performed to outline the effects of mass diffusion phenomena on film boiling heat transfer process from a horizontal cylinder heating surface to the binary liquid mixtures of ethylene oxide/water and ethanol/benzene over whole range of compositions. These two binary systems are chosen for illustrating the strong and weak mass diffusion effects, respectively, on film boiling. Furthermore, a simple correlation for predicting heat transfer coefficient is proposed to demonstrate the idea that the dimensionless F factor can satisfactorily account for the mass diffusion effect on film boiling heat transfer of binary mixtures.     

Numerical study of condensing a small concentration of vapour inside a vertical tube

The purpose of this study is to analyse the combined heat and mass transfer of liquid film condensation from a small steam–air mixtures flowing downward along a vertical tube. Both liquid and gas stream are approached by two coupled laminar boundary layer. An implicit finite difference method is employed to solve the coupled governing equations for liquid film and gas flow together with the interfacial matching conditions. The effects of a wide range of changes of three independent variables (inlet pressure, inlet Reynolds number and wall temperature) on the concentration at exit tube, local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers, film thickness, accumulated condensate rate and temperature are carefully examined. The numerical results indicate that in the case of condensing a small concentration of vapours from a mixture, the resistance to heat and mass transfer by non-condensable gas becomes very intense. The comparisons of average Nusselt number and local condensate heat transfer coefficient with the literature results are in good agreement.     

The influence of suction on heat and mass transfer in condensation of mixed vapors

The film theory by Ackermann can be applied to simultaneous heat and mass transfer processes, if the mass flux normal to the wall is induced by diffusion. Since this condition mostly is not fulfilled when condensing vapor mixtures, an approximative procedure is developed taking into account the influence of suction in condensation heat transfer. The accuracy of the method turns out to be satisfactory compared with results obtained by numerical analysis.     

Spontaneous condensation in boundary layers

It is a well known effect that accumulation of non condensable gas causes a high heat transfer resistance during direct contact condensation in binary steam- nitrogen mixtures. But especially with high pressures and low water temperatures a second effect reduces heat transfer additionally. Fog forms within in the steam-nitrogen boundary layer and the steam condenses at the water droplets of the fog layer and reaches the cooling water interface no longer. The convective mass transfer to the cooling water interface diminishes and no heating up of the water layer takes place. This effect was observed with experiments at stratified two phase flow run with pressures up to 2.0 MPa. The interface temperature has proved to be the most important parameter for fog formation. The paper explains this effect by means of film theory. It offers correlations to quantify the effect and to calculate the minimum interface temperature to avoid spontaneous condensation. Received on 29 May 1998     

NÄherungsverfahren zur Berechnung von Kondensatoren für Dampfgemische

Starting from a previous method an approximating design method for mixed vapour condensers is developed in which heat transfer and pressure drop is calculated at only three points of the condenser. As an improvement over the previous method mass transfer resistance in the vapour is approximately taken into account, whilst applying the usual condensing curve for equilibrium. With binary mixtures it is shown how the mass transfer resistance can easily be taken into account by an equivalent additional heat transfer resistance on the vapour side. The approximation should be applicable to any vapour mixture.     

Convective heat and mass transfer from a falling film to a laminar gas stream

A numerical study has been made of convective heat and mass transfer from a falling film to a laminar gas stream between vertical parallel plates. The effects of gas-liquid phase coupling, variable thermophysical properties, and film vaporization have been considered. Simultaneous mass, momentum and heat transfer between liquid film and gas stream is numerically studied by solving the respective governing equations for the liquid film and gas stream together. The influences of the inlet liquid temperature and liquid flowrate on the cooling of liquid film are examined for air-water and air-ethanol systems. Results show that the heat transfer from the gas-liquid interface to the gas stream is predominantly determined by the latent heat transfer connected with film evaporation. Additionally, better liquid film cooling is noticed for the system having a higher inlet liquid temperature or a lower liquid flowrate.     

A review of pool and forced convective boiling of binary mixtures

Boiling of binary mixtures is characterized by a close linking between heat and mass transfer processes, with the evaporation rate usually being limited by the mass transfer process. This is significantly different from single-component systems where interfacial mass transfer rates are normally very high. Information on pool boiling of binary mixtures is widely available in the literature, whereas research on forced convective boiling of mixtures has become significant only over the last few years. This paper presents a brief review of experimental results obtained in pool and forced convective boiling of binary mixtures and upgrades the empirical or theoretical predictive tools for both situations.     

Experimental studies on heat and mass transfer performance of a coiled tube absorber for R134a-DMAC based absorption cooling system

Absorber is an important component in vapor absorption refrigeration system and its performance has greater influence in overall efficiency of absorption machines. Falling film heat and mass transfer in an absorber is greatly influenced by fluid properties, geometry of heat exchanger and its operating parameters. This paper presents on the results of experimental studies on the heat and mass transfer characteristics of a coiled tube falling film absorber, using 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluroethane(R-134a) and N-N Dimethyl Acetamide (DMAC) as working fluids. The effects of film Reynolds number, inlet solution temperature and cooling water temperature on absorber heat load, over all heat transfer coefficient and mass of refrigerant absorbed are presented and discussed. Normalized solution and coolant temperature profiles and refrigerant mass absorbed along the height of absorber are also observed from the experimental results. The optimum over all heat transfer coefficient for R-134a–DMAC solution found to be 726 W/m²K for a film Reynolds number of 350. The R-134a vapour absorption rate is maximum in the normalized coil height of 0.6 to 1.     

An investigation of a model of the flow pattern transition mechanism in relation to the identification of annular flow of R134a in a vertical tube using various void fraction models and flow regime maps

In the present study, new experimental data are presented for literature on the prediction of film thickness and identification of flow regime during the co-current downward condensation in a vertical smooth copper tube having an inner diameter of 8.1 mm and a length of 500 mm. R134a and water are used as working fluids in the tube side and annular side of a double tube heat exchanger, respectively. Condensation experiments are done at mass fluxes of 300 and 515 kg m^?2 s^?1. The condensing temperatures are between 40 and 50 °C; heat fluxes are between 12.65 and 66.61 kW m^?2. The average experimental heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerant HFC-134a is calculated by applying an energy balance based on the energy transferred from the test section. A mathematical model by Barnea et al. based on the momentum balance of liquid and vapor phases is used to determine the condensation film thickness of R134a. The comparative film thickness values are determined indirectly using relevant measured data together with various void fraction models and correlations reported in the open literature. The effects of heat flux, mass flux, and condensation temperature on the film thickness and condensation heat transfer coefficient are also discussed for the laminar and turbulent flow conditions. There is a good agreement between the film thickness results obtained from the theoretical model and those obtained from six of 35 void fraction models in the high mass flux region of R134a. In spite of their different valid conditions, six well-known flow regime maps from the literature are found to be predictive for the annular flow conditions in the test tube in spite of their different operating conditions.     

Untersuchung der laminaren Zweistoffgrenzschichtströmung längs eines verdunstenden Flüssigkeitsfilms

A contribution for clarifying the physical process in the evaporating part of a film-evaporation combustion-chamber is presented. Experimental and theoretical investigations are carried out for a flat vaporizing liquid film. The binary laminar boundary-layer flow including heat and mass transfer is calculated taking into account variable fluid properties. It is shown analytically and numerically and confirmed by the experiments, that the equations for momentum, energy and mass concentration yield “similar solutions” and that furthermore a 1/√x?law for the local evaporation velocity and a constant distribution of temperature and mass concentration at the film surface is obtained. The boundary-layer parameters and the influence of evaporation mass-flow are computed. A comparison with the experimental results shows good agreement.     

Investigation of heat transfer by means of pool film boiling on vertical cylinders in gravity

In this study, the heat transfer by means of pool film boiling on immersed vertical cylindrical rods was investigated. For this purpose, the rods with various dimensions, which have been heated up to 600°C, were immersed in a pure water pool in the different temperatures. The centre temperature and water temperature versus operation time were measured by K type thermocouples at the atmospheric pressure. After experimental studies, the surface temperatures of rods and heat transfer coefficients were calculated by means of Lumped method from the measured temperatures. Consequently, an empirical equation was developed between the Nusselt, Grashof, Prandtl and Jakob numbers. The experimental results showed that the specimens having the same characteristic lengths exhibited the same heat transfers performance although the specimen’s diameters and lengths differed considerably.     

Numerical study of heat and mass transfer of ammonia-water in falling film evaporator

To investigate the performance of the heat and mass transfer of ammonia water during the process of falling film evaporation in vertical tube evaporator, a mathematical model of evaporation process was developed and solved based on stream function. Then an experimental study of falling film evaporation was carried out in order to validate the mathematical model. A series of parameters, such as velocity, film thickness and concentration, etc., were obtained from the mathematical model. The calculated results show that the average velocity and the film thickness change sharp at the entrance region when x?x?>?100 mm. The film thickness depends largely on the flow rate of solution. It is observed that the heating power and mass flow of solution significantly affect the concentration difference between the inlet and outlet of evaporation tube. The calculated results reveal that the tube length has a significant impact on the amounts of ammonia vapor evaporated. It is suggested that the roll-worked enhanced tube should be used in order to decrease the concentration gradient in the film thickness direction and enhance the heat and mass transfer rate. Furthermore, the experimental and calculated results indicate that the inlet solution concentration has a great influence on the heat exchange capacity, the amounts of ammonia vapor evaporated and the evaporation pressure.     

Nucleate pool boiling of aqueous solution of citric acid on a smoothed horizontal cylinder

Nucleate pool boiling heat transfer coefficients were measured during pool boiling of the mixtures of Citric acid/water on a horizontal heated Cylinder. The experiment was done at atmospheric pressure and heat fluxes up to 113 kW m⁻² and mass fraction range 0.1496–0.613 over all ranges of mass fraction, the heat transfer coefficients of the mixtures are markedly less than those in single component substances and, in particular, are dramatically deteriorated in the vicinity of both single component substances. An applicability of existing correlations to the present experimental data is discussed. As a result, it is difficult for any existing correlation to predict the true values of pool boiling heat transfer coefficients over all ranges of mass fraction in mixtures of citric acid/water. Available correlation results were not exactly adapted to experimental data and for the best estimation, a new modified model based on Stephan-Kroner has been achieved with reasonable accuracy. Also the status of bubble generation showed that nucleation site density is strictly functioning of heat flux.     

Characteristics of heat transfer coefficient during nucleate pool boiling of binary mixtures

Experimental studies were conducted on heat transfer on a horizontal platinum wire during nucleate pool boiling in nonazeotropic binary mixtures of R12+R113, R134a+R113, R22+R113 and R22+R11, at pressures of 0.25 to 0.7 MPa and at heat fluxes up to critical heat flux. The substances employed were chosen such that the components of a given mixture had a large difference in saturation temperatures. The boiling features of the mixtures and the pure substances were observed by photography. The relationship between the boiling features and the reduction in heat transfer coefficient in binary mixtures is discussed in order to propose a correlation useful for predicting the experimental data measured over a wide range of low and high heat fluxes. It is shown that the correlation is applicable also to alcoholic mixtures. The physical role of k, which was introduced to evaluate the effect of heat flux on the reduction in heat transfer coefficient, is clarified based on the measured nucleate pool boiling heat transfer data and the visual observations of the boiling features. Received on 13 May 1997     

Study on laminar film condensation of saturated steam on a vertical flat plate for consideration of various physical factors including variable thermophysical properties

The extended theory of the steady state laminar film condensation process of pure saturated vapour at atmospheric pressure on an isothermal vertical flat plate is established. Its equations provide a complete account of the physical process for consideration of various physical factors including variable thermophysical properties, except for surface tension at the liquid-vapour film interface. First, similarity considerations are proposed to transform the governing system of partial differential equations and its boundary conditions into the corresponding dimensionless system. Then, the dimensionless new system is computed numerically in two steps: First neglecting shear force at the interface, so that the initial values of the boundary conditionsW _{xl, s} andW _{yl, s} are obtained. Then, the calculations of a problem of the three-point boundary-value for coupling the equations of liquid film with those of vapour film are carried out. Furthermore, the correlations for heat transfer coefficient and mass flow rate are proposed by analysis of heat and mass transfer and it is found that the heat transfer coefficient is function of dimensionless temperature gradient $\dot L$ , and that the condensate mass flow rate is function of the mass flow rate parameter (η _lδ W _{xl, s} ? 4W _{yl, s} )of liquid. In addition, the corresponding heat and mass transfer correlations expressed by subcooled temperature Δt are developed. According to Nusselt's theory four different assumptions are set up for an investigation of the effects of the film condensation of saturated vapour, so that the validity of Nusselt's theory can be further clarified. Quantitative comparisons from the results of the heat transfer coefficient and mass flow rate of the condensate indicate that the effect of variable thermophysical properties on the heat and mass transfer is appreciable. The effect of thermal convection in the condensate film is obviously larger than those of shear force at liquid-vapour interface, and the effect of the inertia in the condensate film is very small. Finally, it is also shown that Nusselt's theory, in using Drew reference temperature, will decrease the heat transfer coefficient by at most 5.11%, and will increase the mass flow rate of the condensate by at most 2.45%, provided that the effect of the surface tension is not taken into account.     

Heat and mass transfer of a water film falling down a tilted plate with radiant heating and evaporation

This paper has concerned the heat and mass transfer of a water film falling down a tilted plate with radiant heating and water evaporation. A cluster of physical models was developed for evaluating the properties of heat and mass transfer. A fully implicit control-volume finite-difference procedure was used to solve the coupling equations. The effects of various parameters on heat and mass transfer were investigated. The results showed that the mass fraction of water vapor in ambient atmosphere and the flow turbulence played key roles in the heat and mass transfer. The ambient atmospheric temperature dramatically affected the sensible heat flux. However its effect on the latent heat flux is negligibly small. The magnitude of solar incident flux had an intense influence on the water film temperature. Received on 29 January 1998     

Two-phase heat transfer characteristics for R-22/R-407C in a 6.5-mm smooth tube

Two-phase friction and heat transfer characteristics for R-22/R-407C inside a 6.5-mm smooth tube are reported in this study. The heat transfer results for G=100 and 400 kg/m² s were reported in the present study, and the adiabatic frictional pressure drop was recorded in the range of 100 to 700 kg/m² s. It is found that the development of flow pattern for R-407C falls behind R-22. This may explain the lower pressure drops for R-407C. The major heat transfer mechanism at low mass flux is nucleate boiling, and virtually becomes the convective evaporation as mass flux increase to G=400 krg/m² s, Meanwhile, the reduction of heat transfer coefficients for R-407C mixtures are especially profound at low mass flux, and the reduction of heat transfer coefficient decreases with the increase of mass flux.     

Semi-empirical modeling of pool boiling heat transfer in binary mixtures

Pool boiling heat transfer has been investigated for various binary mixtures, including acetone/isopropanol, water/acetone, water/methanol, water/ethanol, water/isopropanol, water/monoethanolamine, water/diethanolamine and water/triethyleneglycol as test solutions. Many correlations have been developed to predict the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient in mixtures in the past few decades, however the predicted values are not confirming. In addition, the application of many existing correlations requires some individual adjusting parameters that may be not available for every system. In this investigation, a new set of experimental data are presented. These data have been compared to major existing correlations. It is observed that the pool boiling heat transfer coefficients in mixtures are less than the ideal boiling heat transfer coefficient. A new semi-empirical model has been proposed based on the mass transfer resistance to predict the boiling heat transfer coefficient with satisfactory accuracy. The new model does not include any tuning parameter and is applicable to any given binary system. The performance of the proposed model is superior to most existing correlations.     

Saturated nucleate boiling to binary and ternary mixtures on horizontal cylinder

In this investigation, a large number of experiments have been performed to determine saturated nucleate pool boiling heat transfer coefficients of MEA/water and DEA/water binary mixtures and that of water/MEA/DEA ternary mixtures. These heat transfer coefficients have been measured at atmospheric pressure and over a wide range of heat fluxes and solution concentrations. The heat flux has been varied in 14 different levels from 7 to about 230 kW/m² and amines concentration has been changed in 10 different levels from zero to 84 wt%. Results show that strong reduction of heat transfer coefficient occurs as a result of mass transfer interference in this phenomenon. Furthermore, in this study, all the correlations proposed during the last years for the prediction of nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient of mixtures have been categorized in three groups. Some experimental results have been compared with the most accurate representatives of these three groups and the corresponding RMS errors have been calculated. Also, impacts of important existing parameters in these correlations like ideal heat transfer coefficient (h_id.) on the prediction have been discussed.     

Combined heat and mass transfer in natural convection between vertical parallel plates

This study purposes to examine the effects of latent heat transfer associated with the liquid films vaporization on the heat transfer in the natural convection flows driven by the simultaneous presence of combined buoyancy forces of thermal and mass diffusion. Results are especially presented for an air-water system under various conditions. The influence of channel length and system temperatures on the momentum, heat and mass transfer in the flow are investigated in great detail. The important role of transport of latent heat of vaporization under the situations of buoyancy-aiding and opposing flows is clearly demonstrated.