Convective heat transfer characteristics of high-pressure gas in heat exchanger with membrane helical coils and membrane serpentine tubes

Since the heat transfer performance of syngas cooler affects the efficiency of the power generating system with integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) directly, it is important to obtain the heat transfer characteristics of high-pressure syngas in the cooler. Heat transfer in convection cooling section of pressurized coal gasifier with the membrane helical coils and membrane serpentine tubes under high pressure is experimentally investigated. High pressure single gas (He or N₂) and their mixture (He + N₂) gas serve as the test media in the test pressure range from 0.5 MPa to 3.0 MPa. The results show that the convection heat transfer coefficient of high pressure gas is influenced by the working pressure, gas composition and symmetry of flow around the coil, of which the working pressure is the most significant factor. The average convection heat transfer coefficients for various gases in heat exchangers are systematically analyzed, and the correlations between Nu and Re for two kinds of membrane heat exchangers are obtained. The heat transfer coefficient of heat exchanger with membrane helical coils is greater than that of the membrane serpentine-tube heat exchanger under the same conditions. The heat transfer coefficient increment of the membrane helical-coil heat exchanger is greater than that of the membrane serpentine-tube heat exchanger with the increase of gas pressure and velocity.     

Effect of salt spray corrosion on air-side hydrophilicity and thermal-hydraulic performance of copper-fin heat exchangers

The effect of salt spray corrosion on the air-side hydrophilicity and the thermal-hydraulic performance of copper-fin heat exchangers were experimentally investigated. Artificial accelerated method of salt spray corrosion on the copper-fin heat exchangers was used for simulating the actual corroded heat exchangers. The experimental results show that, the contact angles increase with the increase of salt spray corrosion hours, which results in the degradation of the hydrophilicity of copper fin. The air-side heat transfer coefficients decrease and pressure drops increase with the increase of corrosion hours. The effect of salt spray corrosion on the heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops become more obvious with the increase of inlet air velocity. The heat transfer coefficients of the corroded copper-fin heat exchangers decrease by 4.4–34.0% and the pressure drop increase by 5.2–26.1% comparing with those of the uncorroded copper-fin heat exchanger at the inlet air velocity ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 m/s.     

Comparisons of the heat transfer and pressure drop of the microchannel and minichannel heat exchangers

The present study investigated the comparisons of the heat transfer and pressure drop of the microchannel and minichannel heat exchangers, both numerically and experimentally. The results obtained from this study indicated that the heat transfer rate obtained from microchannel heat exchanger was higher than those obtained from the minichannel heat exchangers; however, the pressure drops obtained from the microchannel heat exchanger were also higher than those obtained from the minichannel heat exchangers. As a result, the microchannel heat exchanger should be selected for the systems where high heat transfer rates are needed. In addition, at the same average velocity of water in the channels used in this study, the effectiveness obtained from the microchannel heat exchanger was 1.2–1.53 times of that obtained from the minichannel heat exchanger. Furthermore, the results obtained from the experiments were in good agreement with those obtained from the design theory and the numerical analyses.     

A simplified model of heat transfer in heat exchangers and stack plates of thermoacoustic refrigerators

A simplified model of heat transfer was developed to investigate the thermal behavior of heat exchangers and stack plates of thermoacoustic devices. The model took advantage of previous results describing the thermal behavior of the thermoacoustic core and heat transfer in oscillating flow to study the performance of heat exchangers attached to the core. The configuration considered is a flat tube (with a working fluid flowing in the tube) of the thickness of the stack plate attached to both ends of the stack plate. Geometrical and operational parameters as well as thermophysical properties of the heat exchangers, transport fluids in the heat exchangers, stack plate and the thermoacoustic working fluid were organized into dimensionless groups that allowed accounting for their impact on the performance of the heat exchangers. Two types of thermal boundary conditions were considered: constant temperature and constant heat flux along the heat exchanger tubes. Numerical simulations were carried out with the model introduced in the paper. The temperature distributions and heat fluxes near the edge of the stack plate were found to be nonlinear. The influence of system parameters on the thermal performance of the heat exchangers was analyzed.This article is dedicated to Prof. D. Mewes, whose knowledge, creativity, enthusiasm and dedication to engineering science was an inspiration to me and to many students, scientists, engineers and colleagues all over the world (C. Herman).     

Heat transfer in laminar pulsating flows of fluids with temperature dependent viscosities

The effect of time-dependent pressure pulsations on heat transfer in a pipe flow with constant temperature boundaries is analysed numerically when the viscosity of the pulsating fluid is an inverse linear function of the temperature. The coupled differential equations are solved using Crank-Nicholson semi-implicit finite difference formulation with some modifications.The results indicate local variations in heat transfer due to pulsations. They are useful in the design of heat exchangers working under pulsating flow conditions. The analytical results are presented for both heating and cooling. The conditions under which pulsating flows can augment the heat transfer are discussed. The results are applicable for heat exchangers with fluids of high Prandtl number.     

Correlations for heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in the annulus of concentric helical coils

Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in the annulus of concentric helical coils heat exchangers were experimentally investigated. The effects of coil curvature ratio, flow configuration, number of turns and addition of surfactant were investigated. Five test coils were designed and manufactured to study the effect of different parameters on heat transfer and pressure drop. The liquids used in the present study were water and oleyl-dihydroxy-etheyl-amine-oxide (ODEAO, C₂₂H₄₅NO₃ = 371) non-ionic aqua surfactant solution flowing through the annulus side. The inner side Reynolds number range 11,000–27,000 and the annulus side range 5,000–19,000. The results showed that the annulus Nusselt number decreases as annulus curvature ratio increases and increases when number of turns decrease. Moreover, the friction factor increases with the curvature ratio and also increases as number of turns decreases. Both Nusselt number and friction factor decrease when ODEAO concentration increases.     

Effect of tube pitch on heat transfer in shell-and-tube heat exchangers—new simulation software

A new program for simulation and optimization of the shell-and-tube heat exchangers is prepared to obtain useful results by employment of the computing technology fast and accurately. As an application of this program, the effects of transverse and longitudinal tube pitch in the in-line and staggered tube arrangements on the Nusselt numbers, heat transfer coefficients and thermal performance of the heat exchangers were investigated. The obtained values of the tube pitch were compared with literature values.     

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.     

The effect of flexible tube vibration on pressure drop and heat transfer in heat exchangers considering viscous dissipation effects

The pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient in tube bundle of shell and tube heat exchangers are investigated considering viscous dissipation effects. The governing equations are solved numerically. Because of temperature-dependent viscosity the equations should be solved simultaneously. The flexible tubes vibration is modeled in a quasi-static method by taking the first tube of the row to be in 20 asymmetric positions with respect to the rest of the tubes which are assumed to be fixed and time averaging the steady state solutions corresponding to each one of these positions .The results show that the eccentricity of the first tube increases pressure drop and heat transfer coefficients significantly comparing to the case of rigid tube bundles, symmetrically placed. In addition, these vibrations not only compensate the effect of viscous dissipations on heat transfer coefficient but also increase heat transfer coefficient. The constant viscosity results obtained from our numerical method have a good agreement with the available experimental data of constant viscosity for flexible tube heat exchangers.     

A review on transient test techniques for obtaining heat transfer design data of compact heat exchanger surfaces

Accurate and reliable dimensionless heat transfer characteristic is very essential for the analysis of heat exchangers. It is also required for the rating and sizing problems of heat exchangers. One of the important experimental methods used to determine the heat transfer coefficient between the heat transfer surface of the heat exchanger and the flowing fluid is transient test techniques. The transient test techniques are usually employed to establish Colburn factor versus Reynolds number characteristics of a high NTU heat exchanger surfaces like compact or matrix heat exchangers. In those situations, a single-blow test, where only one fluid is used, is employed to conduct the transient test. The transient technique may have the fluid inlet temperature having a step change, periodic or an arbitrary rise/drop. In this paper, various transient test techniques that are used for the determination of heat transfer characteristics of high NTU heat exchanger surfaces are discussed.     

Heat transfer coefficients of shell and coiled tube heat exchangers

In the present study, the heat transfer coefficients of shell and helically coiled tube heat exchangers were investigated experimentally. Three heat exchangers with different coil pitches were selected as test section for both parallel-flow and counter-flow configurations. All the required parameters like inlet and outlet temperatures of tube-side and shell-side fluids, flow rate of fluids, etc. were measured using appropriate instruments. Totally, 75 test runs were performed from which the tube-side and shell-side heat transfer coefficients were calculated. Empirical correlations were proposed for shell-side and tube-side. The calculated heat transfer coefficients of tube-side were also compared to the existing correlations for other boundary conditions and a reasonable agreement was observed.     

Zur Bewertung von Kompakt-Wärmeaustauschern

A number of criteria have been developed which evaluate heat exchangers on the basis of exchange rate and pumping power. Appreciation of these criteria suffers from a poor discussion of the conditions for which the evaluation holds. Consequently there have been contradictory results when different procedures were applied. A thorough discussion of the various boundary conditions reveals that two most important questions for crossflow air-cooled heat exchangers are (i) exchange area requirement at constant heat transfer rate and pumping power and (ii) exchange area and pumping power requirement at constant heat transfer rate and frontal area. The first question can be answered by generalizing the evaluation procedure of Glaser, the second problem is dealt with on the basis of redefined heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics.     

Numerical study of heat transfer enhancement of finned flat tube bank fin with vortex generators mounted on both surfaces of the fin

Tube bank fin heat exchanger is one of the most compact heat exchangers, and it is widely used in industry equipments. The flat tube bank fin heat exchangers with vortex generators (VGs) have significant good heat transfer performance, and are used as radiators of locomotive. Here, we study heat transfer enhancement of a new fin where VGs are mounted on both surfaces of the fin. The heat transfer performance of this pattern is evaluated by a numerical method, and the results are compared with those obtained, under identical mass flow rate, when the VGs are mounted only on one surface of the fin. The results reveal that using this new pattern the height of VGs can be reduced and still obtain satisfactory heat transfer enhancement, while the pressure drop is reduced. The results also reveal that if VGs on one surface of the fin is determined, the locations where VGs are mounted on other surface of the same fin are very important, with configurations studied in this paper, depending on the value of Reynolds number, there exists an optimum location with which best heat transfer performance can be obtained.     

Turbulent forced convection in a helically coiled square duct with one uniform temperature and three adiabatic walls

In this study, effects of geometrical parameters on the average convection heat transfer characteristics in helical square ducts were investigated both experimentally and numerically. The inner wall of the helical square duct was uniformly temperatured, and the top, bottom, and outer walls were adiabatic. The Renormalization Group (RNG) k–ε turbulence model was used to simulate turbulent flow and heat transfer. The governing equations were solved by a finite volume method. Numerical results were found to be in good agreement with the presented experimental data. The new correlation was proposed for the average heat transfer coefficient on the inner wall of the helical square duct. The results showed that the ratio of pitch to coil radius b/R has no obvious effect on the inner wall convective heat transfer coefficient but the ratio of hydraulic radius to coil radius a/R has considerable effect.     

Local heat transfer in the first baffle compartment of the shell-and-tube heat exchangers for staggered tube arrangement

A mass transfer measuring method based on absorption, chemical and coupled colour reaction is used to visualize and determine the shell side local heat transfer in the first baffle compartment of shell-and-tube heat exchangers with segmental baffles for staggered tube arrangement. Local mass transfer coefficients were transformed into heat transfer coefficients by using the analogy between heat and mass transfer. The local, per-tube and integral heat transfer coefficient distributions are presented.     

Heat and mass transfer at rotary heat exchangers in consideration of the condensation potential

In many industrial processes as well as in air conditioning systems heat and moisture is transferred by rotary heat exchangers from the warm exhaust air flow to the cold supply air flow. Rotary heat exchangers are classified as sorption rotors, hygroscopic rotors and condensation rotors. Basic mechanisms of heat and moisture transfer are presented. By means of the condensation potential as the difference between the moisture content of the warm air flow and the moisture content of the cold air flow at saturation the humidity transfer at the different rotor types is investigated. The condensation potential as a reference parameter provides the possibility to describe the influence of various air conditions in exhaust air and supply air flow on the humidity transfer of different rotary heat exchangers and to compare these rotors with each other. In order to give an overview of relevant design parameters, the influence of the speed of turning, the flute height of the rotor matrix and the velocity of the air flow regarding the heat and mass transfer is considered.     

Data reduction for air-side performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers

The present study focuses on the data reduction method to obtain the air-side performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers. The data reduction methodology for air-side heat transfer coefficients in the literature is not based on a consistent approach. This paper recommends standard procedures for dry surface heat transfer in finned-tube heat exchangers having water on the tube-side. Inconsistencies addressed include the -NTU relationships, calculation of the tube-side heat transfer coefficient, calculation of fin efficiency, and whether entrance and exit loss should be included in the reduction of friction factors. Use of the recommended standardized methodology will provide more meaningful data for use in the development of correlations, or for performance comparison purposes.     

Preliminary results of MCPHE by experimental studies

The influence of grooves in the U-turn areas for the multi-channel-plate heat exchangers (MCPHEs) is significant due to the friction and flow phenomena in this region. In this study, two types of MCPHE made of acrylic plates were tested: one with grooves in the U-turn area, one without. During this series of experiments, heat transfer rate, overall volumetric heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number and overall pressure drop (i.e., including the entrance and exit losses) were measured and calculated in order to understand the overall performance of these two different constructions of MCPHE. The experimental results show that the heat exchanger without grooves in the U-turn area possessed higher heat transfer performance and lower overall pressure drop.     

Visualization and determination of local heat transfer coefficients in shell-and-tube heat exchangers for in-line tube arrangement by mass transfer measurements

The local heat transfer coefficients on the shell-side of shell-and-tube heat exchangers for in-line tube arrangement are visualized and determined from mass transfer measurements. The mass transfer experiments are carried out using a technique based on absorption, chemical and coupled colour reaction. Local mass transfer coefficients are measured for fully developed flow conditions on each tube surface. These coefficients were transformed to heat transfer coefficients by employing the analogy between heat and mass transfer. The averaged heat transfer coefficients and the pressure drop are compared with the predictions from the literature. Received on 2 May 1997     

Experimental and numerical investigation on air-side performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers with various fin patterns

Air-side heat transfer and friction characteristics of five kinds of fin-and-tube heat exchangers, with the number of tube rows (N = 12) and the diameter of tubes (D_o = 18 mm), have been experimentally investigated. The test samples consist of five types of fin configurations: crimped spiral fin, plain fin, slit fin, fin with delta-wing longitudinal vortex generators (VGs) and mixed fin with front 6-row vortex-generator fin and rear 6-row slit fin. The heat transfer and friction factor correlations for different types of heat exchangers were obtained with the Reynolds numbers ranging from 4000 to 10000. It was found that crimped spiral fin provides higher heat transfer and pressure drop than the other four fins. The air-side performance of heat exchangers with the above five fins has been evaluated under three sets of criteria and it was shown that the heat exchanger with mixed fin (front vortex-generator fin and rear slit fin) has better performance than that with fin with delta-wing vortex generators, and the slit fin offers best heat transfer performance at high Reynolds numbers. Based on the correlations of numerical data, Genetic Algorithm optimization was carried out, and the optimization results indicated that the increase of VG attack angle or length, or decrease of VG height may enhance the performance of vortex-generator fin. The heat transfer performances for optimized vortex-generator fin and slit fin at hand have been compared with numerical method.