The numerical computation of the evaporative cooling of falling water film in turbulent mixed convection inside a vertical tube

An analysis has been developed for studying the evaporative cooling of liquid film falling inside a vertical insulated tube in turbulent gas stream is presented. Heat and mass transfer characteristics in air–water system are mainly considered. A low Reynolds number turbulence model of Launder and Sharma is used to simulate the turbulent gas stream and a modified Van Driest model suggested by Yih and Liu is adopted to simulate the turbulent liquid film. The model predictions are first compared with available experimental data for the purpose of validating the model. Parametric computations were performed to investigate the effects of Reynolds number, inlet liquid temperature and inlet liquid mass flow rate on the liquid film cooling mechanism. Results show that significant liquid cooling results for the system with a higher gas flow Reynolds number Re, a lower liquid flow rate Γ₀ or a higher inlet liquid temperature T_L0.     

Thermal protection with liquid film in turbulent mixed convection channel flows

In this numerical study, a channel flow of turbulent mixed convection of heat and mass transfer with film evaporation has been conducted. The turbulent hot air flows downward of the vertical channel and is cooled by the laminar liquid film on both sides of the channel with thermally insulated walls. The effect of gas–liquid phase coupling, variable thermophysical properties and film vaporization are considered in the analysis. In the air stream, the k–ε turbulent model has been utilized to formulate the turbulent flow. Parameters used in this study are the mass flow rate of the liquid film B, Reynolds number Re, and the free stream temperature of the hot air T_o. Results show that the heat flux was dramatically increases due to the evaporation of liquid water film. The heat transfer increases as the mass flow rate of the liquid film decreases, while the Reynolds number and inlet temperature increase, and the influences of the Re and T_o are more significant than that of the liquid flow rate. It is also found that liquid film helps lowering the heat and mass transfer rate from the hot gas in the turbulent channel, especially at the downstream.     

An experimental study of thermal performance of shell-and-coil heat exchangers

In the present study an experimental investigation of the mixed convection heat transfer in a coil-in-shell heat exchanger is reported for various Reynolds and Rayleigh numbers, various tube-to-coil diameter ratios and dimensionless coil pitch. The purpose of this article is to assess the influence of the tube diameter, coil pitch, shell-side and tube-side mass flow rate over the performance coefficient and modified effectiveness of vertical helical coiled tube heat exchangers. The calculations have been performed for the steady-state and the experiments were conducted for both laminar and turbulent flow inside coil. It was found that the mass flow rate of tube-side to shell-side ratio was effective on the axial temperature profiles of heat exchanger. The results also indicate that the ? − NTU relation of the mixed convection heat exchangers was the same as that of a pure counter-flow heat exchanger.     

EFFECTS OF BINARY MIXTURE CONDENSATION ON TURBULENT MIXED CONVECTION HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN A VERTICAL CHANNEL

Abstract

A numerical analysis was carried out to study the detailed heat and mass transfer processes between a condensation liquid film and mixed turbulent moist airflow. Results show that the condensation latent heat transfer is more important for a system with higher inlet relative humidity or lower inlet Reynolds number of a moist airstream. The heat and mass transfer coefficients are higher for a system with higher inlet relative humidity and inlet Reynolds number of moist air. In addition, the aiding-buoyancy forces cause diminution in heat and mass transfer results compared with the corresponding results of forced convection.     

Roughness enhanced mechanism for turbulent convective heat transfer

The mechanism of turbulent convective heat transfer enhancement was experimentally investigated by measuring the heat transfer in two dimensional roughness tubes with different roughness heights at various Reynolds numbers. The results show that there is a maximum Nusselt number ratio (Nu/Nu₀) for a fixed roughness height with increasing Reynolds numbers. For water as working fluid, heat transfer can hardly be increased when the roughness height is lower than the thickness of the viscous sublayer, and both heat transfer and flow friction begin to increase when the roughness height is higher than the viscous sublayer. When the roughness height is more than five times of the viscous sublayer thickness, the flow friction begins to increase sharply but heat transfer is slowly enhanced. So the best heat transfer enhancement for a given pumping power is reached when the roughness height is about three times of the viscous sublayer thickness. The Prandtl number influences to the turbulent heat transfer enhancement by roughness were also analyzed.     

Comparative study of Euler and mixture models for turbulent flow of Al2O3 nanofluid inside a horizontal tube

In this paper, turbulent forced convective flow of water Al₂O₃ nanofluid, with particle diameter equal to 40 nm in a horizontal circular tube, exposed to convection with saturated steam at the wall, is numerically analyzed. Two different approaches are taken into consideration: Euler and mixture models. It is comprehended that convective heat transfer coefficient enhances with increasing the particle volume concentration and Reynolds number. The two models almost showed the same results. However, mixture model was in a better agreement with experimental results for the estimation of average Nusselt number.     

Numerical Investigation of Forced Convection Flow of Nanofluids in Rotating U-Shaped Smooth and Ribbed Channels

The impact of the nanoparticles and ribs on the thermal performance of the rotating U-type cooling channel are investigated for turbulent forced convection flow of nanofluids. The nanofluids are provided by the inclusion of the nanoparticles of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ in water as the base fluid, namely, water/Al₂O₃ and water/TiO₂ nanofluids mixtures. The simulations are performed for three-dimensional turbulent flow and heat transfer using an RNG k-? turbulence model for Reynolds number range of 5000 to 20,000. To show the effectiveness of the ribs and nanofluids, three criteria are employed: heat transfer enhancement, pressure drop or power consumed, and the thermal performance factor. It is found that the contribution of turbulence promotion in heat transfer enhancement of the ribbed channel is more effective than that of enlarging the heat surface area. The results show that using ribs at the lowest Reynolds number and utilizing nanofluids at the highest one provide high heat transfer rate and thermal performance. At the middle Reynolds numbers, the effects of these two methods on heat transfer enhancement are relatively close to each other. In this case, if the pumping power is the main concern, using nanofluids is recommended due to providing a smaller pressure drop penalty.     

A Comparative Analysis of Single and Two-Phase Models of Turbulent Convective Heat Transfer in a Tube for TiO2 Nanofluid with CFD

In this article, turbulent forced convection flow of dilute water/TiO₂ nanofluid with a particle diameter equal to 30 nm in a horizontal circular tube exposed to convection with saturated steam at the wall, is numerically analyzed. Two different approaches are taken into consideration: single and two-phase mixture models. It is comprehended that the convective heat transfer coefficient increases with the particle volume concentration and Reynolds number. On the other hand, the mixture model was in better agreement with experimental data than the single phase approach.     

Optimal Reynolds number of laminar forced convection in a helical tube subjected to uniform wall temperature

In this study, fully developed laminar flow and heat transfer in a helically coiled tube with uniform wall temperature have been investigated analytically based on minimal entropy generation principle. The influence of coil curvature ratio and fluid properties, β₁ and β₂ on the optimum Reynolds number have been investigated for two well-known fluids viz. air and water. It was revealed that optimum Reynolds numbers decrease as curvature ratio increases except in the low ranges of curvature ratio where transition to turbulent flow occurs. In the range of the present study, a correlation predicting optimal Reynolds number was proposed for each fluid using least square analysis.     

Numerical study of the evaporative cooling of liquid film in laminar mixed convection tube flows

A numerical study is reported to investigate the evaporative cooling of liquid film falling along a vertical tube. A marching procedure is employed for solution of the equation of mass momentum, energy and concentration in the flow. Numerical results for air-water system are presented. The effects of flow conditions on the film cooling mechanism are discussed. Results show that a better liquid film cooling is noticed for a system having a higher inlet liquid temperature T_L0, a higher gas flow Reynolds number Re or a lower liquid flow rate Γ₀. Additionally, the results indicate that the convection of heat by the flowing water film becomes the main mechanism for heat removal from the interface.     

Heat transfer enhancement in dimpled tubes

Heat transfer enhancement was investigated in a coaxial-pipe heat exchanger using dimples as the heat transfer modification on the inner tube. Tube-side Reynolds numbers were in the range of 7.5×10³–5.2×10⁴ for water flow. A constant annular mass flow rate was chosen to obtain the highest possible Reynolds number of 1.1×10⁴. Typically, the heating water inlet temperature was 68.1±0.1^∘C.All six variants with inward-facing, raised dimples on the inner tube increased the values of heat transfer coefficient significantly above those for the smooth tube. Heat transfer enhancement ranged from 25% to 137% at constant Reynolds number, and from 15% to 84% at constant pumping power. At a constant Reynolds number, the relative J factor (ratio of heat transfer coefficient to friction factor, relative to smooth tube values), had values from 0.93 to 1.16, with four dimpled tube configurations having values larger than unity. Despite the extremely simple design, this outperforms almost all heat transfer enhancements recommended in the literature. A correlation based on the results of the present work appears to be sufficiently accurate for predicting heat transfer coefficients and friction factors for the design of dimpled-tube heat exchangers.     

Experimental investigation of turbulent flow and convective heat transfer characteristics of alumina water nanofluids in fully developed flow regime

In this paper the convective heat transfer and friction factor of the nanofluids in a circular tube with constant wall temperature under turbulent flow conditions were investigated experimentally. Al₂O₃ nanoparticles with diameters of 40 nm dispersed in distilled water with volume concentrations of 0.1–2 vol.% were used as the test fluid. All physical properties of the Al₂O₃–water nanofluids needed to calculate the pressure drop and the convective heat transfer coefficient were measured. The results show that the heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid is higher than that of the base fluid and increased with increasing the particle concentrations. Moreover, the Reynolds number has a little effect on heat transfer enhancement. The experimental data were compared with traditional convective heat transfer and viscous pressure drop correlations for fully developed turbulent flow. It was found that if the measured thermal conductivities and viscosities of the nanofluids were used in calculating the Reynolds, Prandtl, and Nusselt numbers, the existing correlations perfectly predict the convective heat transfer and viscous pressure drop in tubes.     

Experimental investigations on overall cooling effect of ribbed channel with air bleeds

An experimental investigation on overall heat transfer performance of a rectangular channel, in which one wall has periodically placed oblique ribs to enhance heat exchange and cylindrical film holes to bleed cooling air, has been carried out in a hot wind tunnel at different mainstream temperatures, hot mainstream Reynolds numbers, coolant Reynolds numbers and blowing ratios. To describe the cooling effect of combined external coolant film with the internal heat convection enhanced by the ribs, the overall cooling effectiveness at the surface exposed in the mainstream with high temperature was calculated by the surface temperatures measured with an infrared thermal imaging system. The total mass flow rate of cooling air through the coolant channel was regulated by a digital mass flow rate controller, and the blowing ratio passing through the total film holes was calculated based on the measurements of another digital-type mass flow meter. The detailed distributions of overall cooling effectiveness show distinctive peaks in heat transfer levels near the film holes, remarkable inner convective heat transfer effect over entire channel surface, and visible conductive heat transfer effect through the channel wall; but only when the coolant Reynolds number is large enough, the oblique rib effect can be detected from the overall cooling effectiveness; and the oblique bleeding hole effect shows the more obvious trend with increasing blowing ratios. Based on the experimental data, the overall cooling effectiveness is correlated as the functions of Re_m (Reynolds number of hot mainstream) and Re_c (Reynolds number of internal coolant flow at entrance) for the parametric conditions examined.     

Turbulent heat transfer and friction factor of Al2O3 Nanofluid in circular tube with twisted tape inserts

The thermophysical properties like thermal conductivity and viscosity of Al₂O₃ nanofluid is determined through experiments at different volume concentrations and temperatures and validated. Convective heat transfer coefficient and friction factor data at various volume concentrations for flow in a plain tube and with twisted tape insert is determined experimentally for Al₂O₃ nanofluid. Experiments are conducted in the Reynolds number range of 10,000–22,000 with tapes of different twist ratios in the range of 0 < H/D < 83. The heat transfer coefficient and friction factor of 0.5% volume concentration of Al₂O₃ nanofluid with twist ratio of five is 33.51% and 1.096 times respectively higher compared to flow of water in a tube. A generalized regression equation is developed for the estimation of Nusselt number and friction factor valid for both water and nanofluid in plain tube and with inserts under turbulent flow conditions.     

Mass transfer by free and forced convection from single spherical liquid drops

Numerical simulations of the mass-transfer of droplet in a continuous phase were done for a conjugate problem. The effect of free and combined convection on the mass transfer was investigated by solving the governing equations using the finite element method. The results show that the mass transfer depends very strongly on the flow conditions. The effect of free convection on mass transfer at high Reynolds number is small. The mass transfer by the combined free and forced convection for a rising drop was found to be smaller than that for a falling drop. The simulation was limited to Re_c?20.     

An investigation of the performance of compact heat exchanger for latent heat recovery from exhaust flue gases

An experimental and theoretical investigation of the utilization of finned tube compact heat exchanger for a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to recover both sensible and latent heat is presented in this paper. The heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of the fin-and-tube heat exchanger are theoretically studied. A correlation of the combined convection–condensation heat transfer is derived by using the heat and mass transfer analogy models. The experimental results have shown that the Colburn factor (j) and the friction factor (f) for humid air, simulating the exhaust of HRSG, are larger than those for dry air. It has been also found that the f factor difference between humid air and dry air decreases as the air side Reynolds number increases and both the f factor and the j factor for humid air increase with the increase of water vapour concentration. A scheme for the design of compact heat exchanger for HRSGs is presented.     

Convection heat and mass transfer along a vertical heated plate with film evaporation in a non-Darcian porous medium

A numerical analysis has been carried about to study the heat and mass transfer of forced convection flow with liquid film evaporation in a saturated non-Darcian porous medium. Parametric analyses were conducted concerning the effects of the porosity ε, inlet liquid Reynolds number Re_l, inlet air Reynolds number Re_a on the heat and mass transfer performance. The results conclude that better heat and mass transfer performances are noticed for the system having a higher Re_a, a lower Re_l, and a higher ε. Re_l plays a more important role on the heat and mass transfer performance than Re_a and ε. For the case of ε = 0.4 and Re_a = 10,000, the increases of Nu and Sh for Re_l = 50 are about by 33.9% and 35.3% relative to the values for Re_l = 250.     

Microscopic phenomena and macroscopic evaluation of heat transfer from plate fins/circular tube assembly using naphthalene sublimation technique

Flow and heat transfer in a plate fins/circular tube assembly is examined using naphthalene sublimation technique. The examined parameters are the gap (δ) to tube diameter (D) ratio δ/D, the Reynolds number Re_D and the tube location l/D for a single tube.A preliminary flow visualization shows large recirculating twin vortices and a weak downstream oscillatory streakline. The local heat/mass transfer coefficient is large at the leading edge of the plate and also in front of the tube. It is relatively small behind the tube and it approaches the fully developed asymptotic value far downstream. The high heat/mass transfer coefficient in front of the tube is considered to be due to the so-called horseshoe vortex. When the Reynolds number is as large as 2660, a smaller subsidiary horseshoe vortex is attached to the upstream of the main one. The positive effect of the horseshoe vortices is prominent when the tube is placed in the downstream region. In this case, the total heat/mass transfer rate increases up to 25%.     

The roughness effects on friction and heat transfer in the fully developed turbulent flow in pipes

Convective heat transfer coefficient is strongly influenced by the mechanism of flow during forced convection. In this paper, the effect of pipe roughness on friction factor and convective heat transfer in fully developed turbulent flow are briefly discussed. A correlation for the friction factor applicable in the region of transition to the fully developed turbulent flow regime is proposed. Using this relationship, some new approximation formulae are proposed to predict the convective heat transfer coefficients in the pipes with a relative roughness of ε/D⩽0.05. The effectiveness parameter for the heat transfer is investigated as a function of the pipe roughness, Reynolds number and Prandtl number. The effect of fouling is also briefly discussed. The predictions of the proposed correlations are compared with the experimental data and with some other previous correlations given in the literature.     

Experimental and Numerical Study of Turbulent Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer of Al2O3/Water Nanofluid in a Spiral-Coil Tube

Enhancement of heat transfer by nanofluids is reported by a large number of researchers. In this study, numerical and experimental investigation of heat transfer and flow characteristics of Al₂O₃/water nanofluid flowing in a spiral-coil tube is performed for various flow conditions. The spiral-coil tube is immersed horizontally in a hot water bath maintained at 60°C. Experiments are conducted in a turbulent flow regime using distilled water and nanofluid with 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% particle volume concentrations. Also, a computational fluid dynamics methodology is used to simulate heat transfer and flow characteristics corresponding to the experimental measurements and for further flow conditions. Simulation results are compared with the experimental measurements, and 85% agreement between the results is observed. The results showed that convective heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid is enhanced up to 61% compared with that of the base fluid. Based on the experimental measurements, a new correlation is developed to predict convection heat transfer from nanofluids in spiral-coil tubes.