Two-phase flow distribution of air–water annular flow in a parallel flow heat exchanger

The air and water flow distribution are experimentally studied for a round header – flat tube geometry simulating a parallel flow heat exchanger. The number of branch flat tube is 30. The effects of tube outlet direction, tube protrusion depth as well as mass flux, and quality are investigated. The flow at the header inlet is identified as annular. For the downward flow configuration, the water flow distribution is significantly affected by the tube protrusion depth. For flush-mounted configuration, most of the water flows through frontal part of the header. As the protrusion depth increases, more water is forced to the rear part of the header. The effect of mass flux or quality is qualitatively the same as that of the protrusion depth. Increase of the mass flux or quality forces the water to rear part of the header. For the upward flow configuration, however, most of the water flows through rear part of the header. The protrusion depth, mass flux, or quality does not significantly alter the flow pattern. Possible explanations are provided based on the flow visualization results. Negligible difference on the water flow distribution was observed between the parallel and the reverse flow configuration.     

Refrigerant distribution in a parallel flow heat exchanger having vertical headers and heated horizontal tubes

Refrigerant R-410a flow distribution is experimentally studied in a test section simulating a parallel flow heat exchanger having vertical headers with two pass configuration. Tubes are heated to yield a test section outlet superheat of 5 °C with inlet quality of 0.3. Mass flux is varied from 50 kg/m² s to 70 kg/m² s. Effects of inlet and outlet locations are investigated in a search for an optimum configuration. Results show that, significant liquid flows through bottom channels, and less liquid is supplied to top channels. As for the inlet location, better flow distribution (pressure drop as well) is obtained for top inlet as compared with middle inlet. As for the outlet location, top or bottom outlet is better than middle outlet. Correlations are developed for the fraction of liquid or gas taken off by downstream channel as a function of header gas Reynolds number at immediate upstream. The correlations may be used to predict the liquid or gas distribution in a parallel flow heat exchanger having vertical headers. A novel thermal performance evaluation method, which accounts for tube-side flow mal-distribution is proposed.     

Two-phase flow behavior inside a header connected to multiple parallel channels

The main objective of this work is to examine the flow distribution of two-phase mixture to parallel channels and to investigate the flow behavior at header-channel junctions simulating the corresponding parts of compact heat exchangers. The cross-section of the header and the channels were fixed to 14 mm × 14 mm and 12 mm × 1.6 mm, respectively. The mass flux and the mass quality ranges were 70–165 kg/m² s and 0.3–0.7, respectively. Air and water were used as the test fluids. The flow distribution at the fore part of the header (region A) is affected only by the upstream flow configuration and the rate of liquid flow separation decreased a flowing downwards. On the other hand, in the rear part, the downstream effect predominates over the upstream effect due to strong flow recirculation near the end plate. In this part, the liquid separation increased (region B) and then decreased (region C) as the mixture proceeds downwards. The validity of the existing models for branching flows at parallel T-junction was tested, and turned out to be appropriate for region A. However, the models were not applicable to the rear part due to a strong flow recirculation. Moreover, the effect of the membranes in channels was investigated, but that was minor.     

Transient response of a parallel flow shell-and-tube heat exchanger and its control

The shell and tube heat exchangers constitute the single largest component of the heat exchanger family. Though a vast number of literature is available for their steady state analyses, the number of works on transient analysis are comparatively fewer. The present paper brings out the transient response of a single pass shell and tube heat exchanger neglecting wall heat capacitance. The model is constructed with a distributed parameter approach. Unlike a number of recent analyses the numerical technique is avoided and the path of double Laplace transform has been chosen instead. This gives a scope for a unique functional representation of the response which is useful for deciding the control strategies to be adopted. This strategy has been formulated for the parallel flow model using PID controllers.     

Pulsating flow in a heat exchanger

The problem of heat transfer in industrial processes, heat exchangers, and combustion chambers is formulated for a case where flow inside the chamber consists of a periodic motion imposed on a fully developed turbulent flow. It is shown that the velocity pulsations induce harmonic oscillations in temperature, thus breaking the temperature field into a steady mean part and a harmonic part. The interaction between the velocity and temperature oscillations introduces an extra term into the energy equation which reflects the effect of pulsations in producing higher heat transfer rates. The analysis shows that when the mean temperature is fully developed with constant heat flux at the wall, there is no effect of the velocity pulsations on the total heat transfer rate along the chamber. For the case where the mean temperature profile is not fully developed, analytical solutions are obtained for asymptotic values of the pulsations frequency. The results show the temperature gradient and its dependence on the frequency. These results are used to evaluate the feasibility of pulsating the flow in a heat exchanger for obtaining higher rates of heat transfer.     

An analytical solution of the dynamics of a symmetrically operated parallel flow heat exchanger

An investigation of an analytical solution of the dynamics of a symmetrically operated parallel flow heat exchanger in the form of transfer matrix was performed. Perturbation method was used to linearize the usual non-linear model of such systems. A non-interactive controller to decouple the outputs and a controller to offset any expected disturbances in the boundary temperature was considered. A discrete model was established and found to predict the heat exchanger dynamics adequately. The results are acceptable and encouraging and the model has been found to be sufficient enough to achieve the objective of countering uncontrolled disturbance without requiring precise knowledge of process dynamics. The validity of the proposed control design is examined by comparing it with other models in the literature.     

Two-phase flow of R-134a refrigerant during flow boiling through a horizontal circular mini-channel

This research focuses on heat transfer to R-134a during flow boiling in a 1.75 mm internal diameter tube. Flow visualisation and heat transfer experiments are conducted to obtain heat transfer coefficients for different flow patterns. The measured data in each flow regime are compared with predictions from a three-zone flow boiling model. The calculations are in fair agreement with the experimental results which correspond in particular to slug flow, throat-annular flow and churn flow regimes under conditions of low heat flux.     

Transient response of the parallel flow heat exchanger with finite wall capacitance

Summary This paper shows how the transient response of the parallel heat exchanger with finite wall capacitance may be calculated by an analytical method. Making usual idealizations for the analysis of dynamic behavior of the heat exchanger, the model is based on three local energy balance equations which are solved by using the Laplace transform method for step change of the primary fluid inlet temperature. The solutions are found in the case of constant initial conditions and expressed in explicit analytical form in terms of the number of transfer units, heat capacity ratios, heat transfer resistance and flow capacitance ratios. The presented solutions are valid in cases where fluid velocities are different or equal and finite or infinite.The solutions can be very suitable for the mathematical modeling of systems containing such types of heat exchangers.

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Das Übergangsverhalten des Gleichstrom-Wärmetauschers mit endlicher Wärmekapazität der Wände

Übersicht Vorgestellt wird eine analytische Berechnungsmethode für das Übergangsverhalten beim Gleichstrom-Wärmetauscher mit endlicher Wandkapazität. Mit den üblichen Idealisierungen für die Behandlung des dynamischen Verhaltens von Wärmetauschern geht die Modellierung aus von drei lokalen Energiebilanz-Gleichungen, die mit Hilfe der Laplace-Transformation für einen Sprung in der Einlauftemperatur des primären Fluids gelöst werden. Die Lösungen, die man für konstante Anfangsbedingungen erhält, werden in expliziter analytischer Form und in Abhängigkeit von der Zahl der Übertragungseinheiten, der Verhältnisse der Wärmeinhalte, der Wärmeübergangswiderstände und Durchflußkapazitäten dargestellt. Die angegebenen Lösungen gelten für gleiche und verschiedene sowie endliche oder unendliche Strömungsgeschwindigkeiten.

     

Two-phase flow instabilities in a silicon microchannels heat sink

Two-phase flow instabilities are highly undesirable in microchannels-based heat sinks as they can lead to temperature oscillations with high amplitudes, premature critical heat flux and mechanical vibrations. This work is an experimental study of boiling instabilities in a microchannel silicon heat sink with 40 parallel rectangular microchannels, having a length of 15 mm and a hydraulic diameter of 194 μm. A series of experiments have been carried out to investigate pressure and temperature oscillations during the flow boiling instabilities under uniform heating, using water as a cooling liquid. Thin nickel film thermometers, integrated on the back side of a heat sink with microchannels, were used in order to obtain a better insight related to temperature fluctuations caused by two-phase flow instabilities. Flow regime maps are presented for two inlet water temperatures, showing stable and unstable flow regimes. It was observed that boiling leads to asymmetrical flow distribution within microchannels that result in high temperature non-uniformity and the simultaneously existence of different flow regimes along the transverse direction. Two types of two-phase flow instabilities with appreciable pressure and temperature fluctuations were observed, that depended on the heat to mass flux ratio and inlet water temperature. These were high amplitude/low frequency and low amplitude/high frequency instabilities. High speed camera imaging, performed simultaneously with pressure and temperature measurements, showed that inlet/outlet pressure and the temperature fluctuations existed due to alternation between liquid/two-phase/vapour flows. It was also determined that the inlet water subcooling condition affects the magnitudes of the temperature oscillations in two-phase flow instabilities and flow distribution within the microchannels.     

Two-phase annular flow and evaporative heat transfer in a microchannel

A physical and mathematical model has been developed to predict the two-phase flow and heat transfer in a microchannel with evaporative heat transfer. Sample solutions to the model were obtained for both constant wall temperature and constant wall heat flux conditions. Results are provided for evaporation rate, liquid film thickness, liquid and vapor phase pressure and temperature distributions. In addition to the sample calculations that were used to illustrate the transport characteristics, computations based on the current model were performed to generate results for comparisons with the experimental results of Qu and Mudawar (2004) where two different mass flow rates of the working fluid were used in the experiment. The comparisons of total pressure drops with the experimental data of Qu and Mudawar (2004) cover the wall heat flux range of 142.71-240 W/cm² with a total channel mass flux of 400.1 kg/m² s and also the wall heat flu range of 99.54-204.39 W/cm² with total channel mass flux of 401.9 kg/m² s. The calculated results from the current model match closely with those of Qu and Mudawar (2004).     

Two-phase refrigerant flow instability analysis and active control in transient electronics cooling systems

Two-loop refrigeration systems are being explored for two-phase cooling of ultra high power electronic components. For effective and efficient thermal management of electronic systems, active control methods are desired to suppress inherent flow instabilities especially in transient applications. This paper presents a framework for the transient analysis and active control of pressure-drop flow instabilities under varying imposed heat loads. The external effects on boiling flow characteristics and the boiling oscillatory flow responses to transient heat load changes are studied. Flow instability margins can be quantitatively predicted from an analytical two-phase flow model. In addition, the effects of wall thermal inertia on flow oscillations is systematically investigated. Based on the theoretical analysis of oscillatory flow boiling of refrigerants, a set of active control schemes are developed and studied to suppress flow oscillations and to increase the critical heat flux. With the available control devices – inlet valve and supply pump – different active control schemes are studied to improve the transient two-phase cooling performance.     

Velocity field and heat transfer in a vortex flow exchanger

This study deals with the flow of newtonian and non-newtonian fluids, inside a cylindrical flat cavity, provided with a tangential injection device, model of heat exchangers with spiral flow.The dynamic analysis which requires essentially a laser Doppler velocimeter focusses on the determination of the velocity field and brings out the existence of secondary flows which are important for heat transfer.In turbulent regime, the law of exchange agrees with the Chilton-Colburn analogy. On the other hand, for laminar flow, it becomes necessary to include the variations with temperature of the consistency (K); the Nusselt number (Nu) not only depends on the flow rate, but also on the density of transferred heat flux.

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Geschwindigkeitsfeld und Wärmeübertragung in einem Wärmeüberträger mit spiralförmiger Strömung

Zusammenfassung Diese Studie betrifft die Strömung von Newton'schen oder Nicht-Newton'schen Flüssigkeiten innerhalb eines flachen zylindrischen Hohlraumes, der mit einem tangentialen Einspritzungssystem versehen ist und als Modell für Wärmeaustauscher mit spiralförmiger Strömung dient.Die dynamische Analyse, die das Laser-Dopplerverfahren (Laser-Velocimetrie) erfordert, kennzeichnet das Geschwindigkeitsfeld und beweist die Existenz von Sekundärströmungen, die für die Wärmeübertragung wichtig sind.Für den turbulenten Betrieb folgt das Gesetz des Wärmeaustausches der Chilton-Colburn Analogie. Was den laminaren Betrieb angeht, wird es erforderlich, die Variationen der BeschaffenheitK mit der Temperatur zu berücksichtigen. Die Nusseltsche Zahl hängt natürlich vom dynamischen Betrieb ebenso wie von der übertragenen Leistung ab.

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Nomenclature Nu=[/S T]D _h/ Nusselt number - Re=V ₀ D _h/ Reynolds number - Re _g=V ₀ ^2–n D _n ^h /K generalized Reynolds number - Pr=C _p / Prandtl number - Pr _g=C _p[V ₀/D _h] ^n–1 K/ generalized Prandtl number - H height of cylinders (m) - H dimension of the entrance device (m) - S ₁ tested section - S ₂ tested section - shear stress (Pa) - K consistency (Pa s ⁿ ) - shear rate (s^–1) - n power law index - a, b constants in the consistency formulaK=a exp [–b t] - a, b constants in the rheological indexn=a exp [b T] - T, T _e,T _p temperature, inlet temp., wall temp. - p pressure (Pa) - p pressure drop (Pa) - V velocity vector (components:V ₁,V ₂,V ₃) (m/s) - V ₀ mean velocity (m/s) - X ₁,X ₂,X ₃ cylindrical coordinate system - C _f friction factor - R ₁,R ₂ radius (m) - heat flux (W) - thermal conductivity (W/(m °C)) - C _p specific heat of fluid (J/(kg C°)) - dynamic viscosity (Pa s) - Q _v volumic flow rate (m³/s) - =/S heat flux density (W/m²) - S exchange area (m²)     

Boiling heat transfer,pressure drop,and flow pattern in a horizontal square minichannel

This study experimentally investigated the flow boiling heat transfer, pressure drop, and flow pattern in a horizontal square minichannel with a hydraulic diameter of 2.0 mm, and the effects of mass flux, vapor quality, heat flux, and refrigerant properties on the flow boiling characteristics were clarified. The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of R32 and R1234yf were measured in a mass flux range of 50–400 kgm⁻²s⁻¹ at a saturation temperature of 15 °C. The flow pattern of the square minichannel outlet was observed and was classified as plug, wavy, churn, and annular flows. The heat transfer coefficients in the square minichannel were larger than those in the circular minichannel with a similar hydraulic diameter at low mass flux conditions. The heat transfer coefficients of R32 indicated higher values compared with those of R1234yf at same mass flux and qualities. An empirical heat transfer model taking into account the forced convection, nucleate boiling, and thin liquid film evaporation was developed for horizontal square and circular minichannels. The frictional pressure drop of R32 was 1.5–2 times higher than that of R1234yf at same mass flux and vapor quality condition, and the effect of channel shape on the frictional pressure drop was small unlike the boiling heat transfer.     

The effect of vapour super-heating on hydrocarbon refrigerant condensation inside a brazed plate heat exchanger

This paper investigates the effect of vapour super-heating on hydrocarbon refrigerant 600a (Isobutane), 290 (Propane) and 1270 (Propylene) condensation inside a brazed plate heat exchanger.Vapour super-heating increases heat transfer coefficient with respect to saturated vapour, whereas no effect was observed on pressure drop.The super-heated vapour condensation data shows the same trend vs. refrigerant mass flux as the saturated vapour condensation data, but with higher absolute values. A transition point between gravity controlled and forced convection condensation has been found for a refrigerant mass flux around 15-18 kg m⁻² s⁻¹ depending on refrigerant type. The super-heated vapour heat transfer coefficients are from 5% to 10% higher than those of saturated vapour under the same refrigerant mass flux.The experimental heat transfer coefficients have been compared against Webb (1998) model for forced convection condensation of super-heated vapour: the mean absolute percentage deviation between the experimental and calculated data is ±18.3%.HC-1270 shows super-heated vapour heat transfer coefficient 5% higher than HC-600a and 10-15% higher than HC-290 together with total pressure drops 20-25% lower than HC-290 and 50-66% lower than HC-600a under the same mass flux.     

Predict the temperature distribution in gas-to-gas heat pipe heat exchanger

A theoretical model has been developed to investigate the thermal performance of a continuous finned circular tubing of an air-to-air thermosyphon-based heat pipe heat exchanger. The model has been used to determine the heat transfer capacity, which expresses the thermal performance of heat pipe heat exchanger. The model predicts the temperature distribution in the flow direction for both evaporator and condenser sections and also the saturation temperature of the heat pipes. The approach used for the present study considers row-by-row heat-transfer in evaporator and condenser sections of the heat pipe heat exchanger.     

Stratified flow boiling heat transfer study of a HFC/HC refrigerant mixture in smooth horizontal tubes

The flow boiling heat transfer coefficients of R-134a/R-290/R-600a (91%:4.068%:4.932% by mass) refrigerant mixture are experimentally arrived in two tubes of diameter 9.52 and 12.7 mm. The tests are conducted to target the varied heat flux condition and stratified flow pattern found in evaporators of refrigerators and deep freezers. The varied heat flux condition is imposed on the refrigerant using a coaxial counter-current heat exchanger test section. The experiments are performed for mass flow rates of the refrigerant mixture between 3 and 5 g s⁻¹ and entry temperature between −8.59 and 5.33°C which are bubble temperatures corresponding to a pressure of 3.2 and 5 bar. The influences of heat flux, mass flow rate, pressure, flow pattern, tube diameter on the heat transfer coefficient are discussed. The profound effects of nucleate boiling prevailing even at higher vapor qualities in evaporators are highlighted. The heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerant mixture is also compared with that of R-134a.     

Two-phase flow and pool boiling heat transfer in microgravity

Researches on two-phase flow and pool boiling heat transfer in microgravity, which included ground-based tests, flight experiments, and theoretical analyses, were conducted in the National Microgravity Laboratory/CAS. A semi-theoretical Weber number model was proposed to predict the slug-to-annular flow transition of two-phase gas–liquid flows in microgravity, while the influence of the initial bubble size on the bubble-to-slug flow transition was investigated numerically using the Monte Carlo method. Two-phase flow pattern maps in microgravity were obtained in the experiments both aboard the Russian space station Mir and aboard IL-76 reduced gravity airplane. Mini-scale modeling was also used to simulate the behavior of microgravity two-phase flow on the ground. Pressure drops of two-phase flow in microgravity were also measured experimentally and correlated successfully based on its characteristics. Two space experiments on pool boiling phenomena in microgravity were performed aboard the Chinese recoverable satellites. Steady pool boiling of R113 on a thin wire with a temperature-controlled heating method was studied aboard RS-22, while quasi-steady pool boiling of FC-72 on a plate was studied aboard SJ-8. Ground-based experiments were also performed both in normal gravity and in short-term microgravity in the drop tower Beijing. Only slight enhancement of heat transfer was observed in the wire case, while enhancement in low heat flux and deterioration in high heat flux were observed in the plate case. Lateral motions of vapor bubbles were observed before their departure in microgravity. The relationship between bubble behavior and heat transfer on plate was analyzed. A semi-theoretical model was also proposed for predicting the bubble departure diameter during pool boiling on wires. The results obtained here are intended to become a powerful aid for further investigation in the present discipline and development of two-phase systems for space applications.     

Experiments on two-phase flow distribution inside parallel channels of compact heat exchangers

Uneven distribution in heat exchangers is a cause of reduction in both thermal and fluid-dynamic performances. Many papers have dealt with single-phase flow and both flow distribution data and analytical or numerical models are available for header design. With regard to two-phase flow, phase separation in manifolds with several outlets is so complicated that, to date, there is no general way to predict the distribution of two-phase mixtures at header-channel junctions. The design of headers for new generation compact heat exchangers and multi-microchannel evaporators is still based on an empirical approach, as a number of variables act together: geometrical parameters and orientation of the manifolds and of the channels, operating conditions, fluid physical properties.     

Efficient synthesis of heat exchanger networks combining heuristic approaches with a genetic algorithm

In this work an innovative method for heat exchanger network (HEN) synthesis is introduced and examined. It combines a genetic algorithm (GA) with a heuristic based optimization procedure. The novel algorithm removes appearing heat load loops from the HEN structures when profitable, throughout the evolution. Two examples were examined with the new HEN synthesis method and for both better results were obtained. Thus, a positive effect of heuristic based optimization methods on the HEN synthesis with GA could be located.