Single-phase heat transfer characteristics of concentric-tube thermosyphon

An experimental study has been conducted to evaluate the influence of the presence of inner tube and the Rayleigh number on free convective heat transfer in an open thermosyphon. Water and fluorocarbon R-11 refrigerant as the working fluids were utilized. Heat transfer results using the concentric geometry were given for modified Rayleigh number from 3.6×10² to 4.1 × 10⁷ which encompasses the regions of similarity, impeded and boundary layer flow conditions. It was found that the presence of the inner tube markedly increases the overall heat transfer coefficient of open thermosyphon by a factor as large as 2 to 10 in the turbulent impeded and boundary layer regimes.

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Wärmeübergang in einem Thermosyphon aus konzentrischem Rohr bei einphasiger Strömung

Zusammenfassung Es wurde experimentell untersucht, wie der Einbau eines Innenrohres und wie die Rayleigh-Zahl auf die freie Konvektion in einem offenen Thermosyphon, gefüllt mit Wasser oder dem Kältemittel R 11, einwirkt. Der untersuchte Bereich bei konzentrischer Geometrie lag bei modifizierten Rayleigh-Zahlen von 3,6 · 10² bis 4,1 · 10⁷ und umfaßte damit die Regionen der Grenzschichtströmung. Es ergab sich, daß der Einbau eines Innenrohres den Gesamtwärmeübergang eines offenen Thermosyphons im Bereich der behinderten turbulenten Strömungen und Grenzschichtströmungen um den Faktor 2 bis 10 steigert.

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Nomenclature a inner radius of heated tube, D/2 - A_in sectional space area of inner tube, d _i ² /4 - A_an sectional space area of annulus, (D^2-d ₀ ² )/4 - C_p specific heat - d_i inner diameter of inner tube - d₀ outer diameter of inner tube - D inner diameter of heated tube - g gravitational acceleration - L tube length of thermosyphon - Nu_a Nusselt number based on inner radius of heated tube - Nu_r Nusselt number based on equivalent heattransfer radius - Nu_x Nusselt number, defined in equation (1) - Pr Prandtl number, defined in equation (3) - q heat flux from heated tube - r equivalent heat-transfer radius, defined in equation (4) - Ra_a modified Rayleigh number based on inner radius of heated tube - Ra_r modified Rayleigh number based on equivalent heat-transfer radius - Ra_x modified Rayleigh number, defined in equation (2) - T_e temperature of entrance-fluid - T_w temperature of heated surface - T temperature difference between heated wall and entrance-fluid, T_w-T_e Greek Symbols coefficient of volumetric expansion - thermal diffusivity - thermal conductivity - viscosity - kinematic viscosity     

Determination of heat transfer correlations for plate-fin-and-tube heat exchangers

This paper presents a numerical method for determining heat transfer coefficients in cross-flow heat exchangers with extended heat exchange surfaces. Coefficients in the correlations defining heat transfer on the liquid- and air-side were determined using a non-linear regression method. Correlation coefficients were determined from the condition that the sum of squared fluid temperature differences at the heat exchanger outlet, obtained by measurements and those calculated, achieved minimum. Minimum of the sum of the squares was found using the Levenberg-Marquardt method. The outlet temperature of the fluid leaving the heat exchanger was calculated using the mathematical model describing the heat transfer in the heat exchanger. Since the conditions at the liquid-side and those at the air-side are identified simultaneously, the derived correlations are valid in a wide range of flow rate changes of the air and liquid. This is especially important for partial loads of the exchanger, when the heat transfer rate is lower than the nominal load. The correlation for the average heat transfer coefficient on the air-side based on the experimental data was compared with the correlation obtained from numerical simulation of 3D fluid and heat flow, performed by means of the commercially available CFD code. The numerical predictions are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Entry region of louvered fin heat exchangers

The dominant thermal resistance for most compact heat exchangers occurs on the gas side and as such an understanding of the gas side flowfield is needed before improving current designs. Louvered fins are commonly used in many compact heat exchangers to increase the surface area and initiate new boundary layer growth. For this study, detailed flowfield measurements were made in the entry region of several louvered fin geometries whereby the louver angle, ratio of fin pitch to louver pitch, and Reynolds number were all varied. In addition to mean velocity measurements, time-resolved velocity measurements were made to quantify unsteady effects.

The results indicated larger fin pitches resulted in lower average flow angles in the louver passages and longer development lengths. Larger louver angles with a constant ratio of fin pitch to louver pitch resulted in higher average flow angles and shorter development lengths. As the Reynolds number increased, longer development lengths were required and higher average flow angles occurred as compared with a lower Reynolds number case. Time-resolved velocity measurements indicated some flow periodicity behind the fully developed louver for a range of Reynolds numbers. The Strouhal number of these fluctuations was constant for a given louver geometry, but the value increased with increasing fin pitch.     

Sizing of heat exchangers with non-uniform coefficients

A technique is presented to include the effects of a non-uniform, overall heat transfer coefficient in double-pipe heat exchanger analysis using the effectiveness (or efficiency) method. The local overall coefficient is permitted to vary with the local temperature difference between the two fluids according to (T?t)ⁿ, where the exponent “n” assumes individual values for various physical situations. A procedure is provided to estimate the appropriate value of “n” for a particular problem. The development provides a correction factor to the ordinary results of the effectiveness method for uniform overall coefficients.     

Wing-type vortex generators for fin-and-tube heat exchangers

The effect of wing-type vortex generators on heat transfer and pressure drop of a fin-and-tube heat exchanger element was investigated. Local heat transfer was measured by liquid crystal thermography on the fin in the Reynolds number range of 600–2700. Flow losses were estimated from the measured pressure drop of an element. Delta winglets were used as vortex generators. Four fin-and-tube configurations were tested, an inline and a staggered arrangement, each with plain fins and with fins with a pair of vortex generators behind each tube. For the inline tube arrangement the vortex generators increase the heat transfer by 55–65% with a corresponding increase of 20–45% in the apparent friction factor. Results indicate that the vortex generators have the potential to reduce considerably the size and mass of heat exchangers for a given heat load.     

Thermal performances of codirected cross-flow heat exchangers

An analysis of temperature-fields and heat transfer in a heat exchanger with codirected cross-flow configuration (see Fig. 1) and tube bundle of arbitrary size has been carried out. This kind of flow arrangement is very suitable for heat transfer between liquid flowing in finned tubes bundle while gas passing across them. The problem was treated analytically by using the method ofweighted mean value of outside fluid temperature described in [1]. The solution of energy balance equations, valid for this case, is expressed by special polynomials which are appropriate for fast calculation of temperatures. They are analogous to other polynomials found in mathematical physics. As end result it has been established that for such cross-flow arrangements, with an arbitrary number of tubesn in the bundle, given NTU value and the heat capacity rate ratioR, the relation for thermal effectivenessP has a simple explicit form.     

Transient analysis of multipass crossflow heat exchangers

By means of both the discrete and continuous approaches, this paper proposes dynamic simulation algorithm of multipass crossflow heat exchangers with arbitrary rows per pass. Heat capacities of both fluids and of the core wall as well as conduction resistance of the wall are taken into account. Effect of the possible tubeside flow maldistribution is described with the dispersed plug-flow model. Furthermore, the simulation solution based on the conventional plug-flow model is developed. Transient temperature profiles are obtained by numerical inversion of the Laplace transform. Some examples are calculated and discussions are made.     

Investigation of flow and heat transfer in corrugated-undulated plate heat exchangers

 An experimental and numerical investigation of heat transfer and fluid flow was conducted for corrugated-undulated plate heat exchanger configurations under transitional and weakly turbulent conditions. For a given geometry of the corrugated plates the geometrical characteristics of the undulated plates, the angle formed by the latter with the main flow direction, and the Reynolds number were made to vary. Distributions of the local heat transfer coefficient were obtained by using liquid-crystal thermography, and surface-averaged values were computed; friction coefficients were measured by wall pressure tappings. Overall heat transfer and pressure drop correlations were derived. Three-dimensional numerical simulations were conducted by a finite-volume method using a low-Reynolds number k–ɛ model under the assumption of fully developed flow. Computed flow fields provided otherwise inaccessible information on the flow patterns and the mechanisms of heat transfer enhancement. Received on 5 February 1999     

Three-dimensional numerical investigation of heat transfer for plate fin heat exchangers

In the present study, the potential of rectangular fins with 30° and 90° angle and 10 mm offset from the horizontal direction for heat transfer enhancement in a plate fin heat exchanger is numerically evaluated with conjugated heat transfer approach. The rectangular fins are mounted on the flat plate channel. 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 Re = 400 and inlet temperatures, velocities of cold and hot air are fixed as 300, 600 K and 1.338, 0.69 m/s, respectively. Colburn factor j versus Re design data is presented by using Fluent. The results show that the heat transfer is increased by 10 % at the exit of channel with fin angle of 30° when compared to channel without fin for counter flow. The heat transfer enhancement with fins of 30° and 90° for different values of Reynolds number with 300, 500 and 800 and for varying fin heights, fin intervals and also temperature distributions of fluids on the top and bottom surface of the channel are investigated for parallel and counter flow.     

Concepts and realization of microstructure heat exchangers for enhanced heat transfer

Microstructure heat exchangers have unique properties that make them useful for numerous scientific and industrial applications. The power transferred per unit volume is mainly a function of the distance between heat source and heat sink—the smaller this distance, the better the heat transfer. Another parameter governing for the heat transfer is the lateral characteristic dimension of the heat transfer structure; in the case of microchannels, this is the hydraulic diameter. Decreasing this characteristic dimension into the range of several 10s of micrometers leads to very high values for the heat transfer rate.

Another possible way of increasing the heat transfer rate of a heat exchanger is changing the flow regime. Microchannel devices usually operate within the laminar flow regime. By changing from microchannels to three dimensional structures, or to planar geometries with microcolumn arrays, a significant increase of the heat transfer rate can be achieved.

Microheat exchangers in the form of both microchannel devices (with different hydraulic diameters) and microcolumn array devices (with different microcolumn layouts) are presented and compared. Electrically heated microchannel devices are presented, and industrial applications are briefly described.     

Fouling of heat exchangers in the dairy industry

A general overview is given of the main factors in the fouling of processing equipment used for heating dairy fluids. The data collected indicate that the primary step in fouling is the adsorption of a monolayer of proteins onto the wall of the heating equipment at room temperature. Real fouling (i.e., the formation of macroscopic layers of foulants), however, is caused by particle formation in the bulk of the liquid being processed. These particles include both whey protein aggregates and calcium phosphate particles. Their formation is heat induced, and the deposition takes place through diffusion toward the heating surface. Only very high flow rates are able to prevent their deposition and subsequent sticking. To better control the process of fouling, special attention is given to the parameters affecting the formation of both types of particles and how their formation can be retarded or prohibited, including the role of calcium sequestrants, pH, preheating, and flow rate herewith.     

Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of air-cooled heat exchangers

In the present study, a thermodynamic second-law analysis was performed to investigate the effects of different geometry and flow parameters on the air-cooled heat exchanger performance. For this purpose, the entropy generation due to heat transfer and pressure loss of internal and external flows of the air-cooled heat exchanger was calculated; and it was observed that the total entropy generation has a minimum at special tube-side Reynolds number. Also, it was seen that the increasing of the tube-side Reynolds number resulted in the rise of the irreversibility of the air-cooled heat exchanger. The results also showed when air-side Reynolds number decreased, the entropy generation rate of the external flow reduced. Finally, based on the computed results, a new correlation was developed to predict the optimum Reynolds number of the tube-side fluid flow.     

Thermal design of multi-fluid mixed-mixed cross-flow heat exchangers

A fast analytical calculation method is developed for the thermal design and rating of multi-fluid mixed-mixed cross-flow heat exchangers. Temperature dependent heat capacities and heat transfer coefficients can iteratively be taken into account. They are determined at one or two special reference temperatures. Examples are given for the application of the method to the rating of special multi-fluid multi-pass shell-and-tube heat exchangers and multi-fluid cross-flow plate-fin heat exchangers. The accuracy of the method is tested against numerical calculations with good results.     

Effects of thermal dispersion on heat transfer in cross-flow tubular heat exchangers

Effects of thermal dispersion on heat transfer and temperature field within cross-flow tubular heat exchangers are investigated both analytically and numerically, exploiting the volume averaging theory in porous media. Thermal dispersion caused by fluid mixing due to the presence of the obstacles plays an important role in enhancing heat transfer. Therefore, it must be taken into account for accurate estimations of the exit temperature and total heat transfer rate. It is shown that the thermal dispersion coefficient is inversely proportional to the interstitial heat transfer coefficient. The present analysis reveals that conventional estimations without consideration of the thermal dispersion result in errors in the fluid temperature development and underestimation of the total heat transfer rate.