Prediction of heat transfer and flow characteristics in helically coiled tubes using artificial neural networks

In this study, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were developed to predict the heat transfer and friction factor in helically coiled tubes. The experiments were carried out with hot fluid in coiled tubes which placed in a cold bath. Coiled tubes with various curvature ratios and coil pitches (nine Layouts) were used. The output data of the ANNs were Nusselt number and friction factor. The validity of the method was evaluated through a test data set, which were not employed in the training stage of the network. Moreover, the performance of the ANN model for estimating the Nusselt number and friction factor in the coiled tubes was compared with the existing empirical correlations. The results of this comparison show that the ANN models have a superior performance in predicting Nusselt number and friction factor in the coiled tubes.     

Development of new correlations for forced convection heat transfer during cooling of products

This paper presents the new, simple but powerful effective Nusselt–Reynolds correlations for estimating the effective convective heat transfer coefficients of spherical and cylindrical products cooled in water and air flows. In this respect, both experimental and theoretical works were obtained. In the experimental case, several spherical and cylindrical products, namely, tomatoes, pears and cucumbers were cooled in water and air flow and their centre temperature variations were measured. In the theoretical case, the effective convective heat transfer coefficients for the individual spherical and cylindrical products were determined using the centre temperature data in the present approach including Dincer's models. Therefore, the new Nusselt–Reynolds correlations were developed using the effective convective heat transfer coefficient values and a general diagram of Nu/Pr^1/3 against Reynolds number was drawn. This study indicates that the present effective Nu–Re correlations are capable of estimating the effective convective heat transfer coefficients of any spherical and cylindrical shaped products exposed to water and air cooling in practical applications in a simple and accurate manner.     

Friction and heat transfer characteristics of laminar swirl flow through the round tubes inserted with alternate clockwise and counter-clockwise twisted-tapes

The thermohydraulic characteristics of the circular tubes equipped with alternate clockwise and counter-clockwise twisted-tapes (TA) for the Reynolds number ranging from 830 to 1990, are reported. In the experiments, the twisted tapes with three different twist ratios (y/W = 3, 4 and 5) were inserted individually into the uniform wall heat flux tubes where water was utilized as the working fluid. The plain tube and the tube inserted with twisted tape (TT) were also tested, for comparison. The obtained results reveal that, Nusselt number, friction factor and thermal performance factor associated by TA are higher than those associated by TT. Among the tapes examined, the one with the smallest twist ratio of y/W = 3 is found to be the most efficient for heat transfer enhancement. For the range studied, the applications of both TT and TA for heat transfer enhancement are found to be promising since the thermal performance factors determined under the same pumping power are all above unity. In addition, the empirical correlations for Nusselt number, friction factor and thermal performance factor have also been developed. The consequential results obtained from the correlations are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results within ± 8% variation for Nusselt number (Nu), ± 8% for thermal performance factor (η) and ± 5% for friction factor (f).     

Heat transfer characteristics of the evaporator section using small helical coiled pipes in a looped heat pipe

An experimental study was carried out for the heat transfer characteristics and the flow patterns of the evaporator section using small diameter coiled pipes in a looped heat pipe (LHP). Two coiled pipes: the glass pipe and the stainless steel pipes were used as evaporator section in the LHP, respectively. Flow and heat transfer characteristics in the coiled tubes of the evaporator section were investigated under the different filling ratios and heat fluxes. The experimental results show that the combined effect of the evaporation of the thin liquid film, the disturbance caused by pulsation and the secondary flow enhanced greatly the heat transfer and the critical heat flux of the evaporator section. In final, two dimensionless empirical correlations were proposed for predicting the heat transfer coefficients of the evaporator section before and after dryout occurs.     

A Review of Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Correlations for Laminar Flow in Curved Circular Ducts

Heat transfer and pressure drop correlations for fully developed laminar Newtonian fluid flow in curved and coiled circular tubes are reviewed. Curved geometry is one of the passive heat transfer enhancement methods that fits several heat transfer applications, such as power production, chemical and food industries, electronics, environment engineering, and so on. Centrifugal force generates a pair or two pairs of cross-sectional secondary flow (based on the Dean number), which are known as the Dean vortices, and improves the overall heat transfer performance with an amplified peripheral Nusselt number variation. The main purpose of this review paper is to provide researchers with a comprehensive list of correlations and concepts that they may need during their research. The paper begins with an introduction to the governing equations and important dimensionless numbers for the flow in curved tubes. The correlations for developing flow in curved and coiled circular tubes are also presented. The main contribution of this study is reviewing the numerical and experimental correlations to calculate friction factor and Nusselt number in curved circular tubes. Nusselt number correlations are categorized based on the thermal boundary condition, as well as on the method. A Dean number range of 1 to 20,000 for the pressure drop correlations and 1 to 7000 for the heat transfer correlations and a Prandtl number range of 0.1 to 7,000 are covered with the reviewed correlations.     

A new set of correlations for EHD enhanced condensation heat transfer of tubular systems

An improved set of correlations for evaluating the heat transfer coefficient of EHD assisted condensation heat transfer for tubular systems is presented in this paper. The correlations were developed by curve fitting a wide range of experimental data and then optimising the empirical constants so that the percentage deviation is less than ±30%. The experimental data was classified in four categories: (I) condensation outside horizontal smooth tubes, (II) condensation inside horizontal smooth tubes, (III) condensation outside vertical tubes and (IV) condensation inside vertical tubes. The experimental data in each category included results obtained using various refrigerants and various electrode systems. The improved correlations were used to predict a total of 166 experimental data points.

A comprehensive literature review of all available correlations for EHD assisted condensation heat transfer is also described in this paper. Two correlations that were identified to be simple were used to predict the above-mentioned data bank. These are the correlations of Choi and Reynolds and Didkovesky and Bologa. The Choi and Reynolds correlation was found to successfully predict heat transfer rates of condensation outside horizontal and vertical tubes and of condensation inside vertical tubes when high intensity electric field is applied. However, the Didkovesky and Bologa correlation was found to successfully predict only the results of condensation heat transfer outside vertical surfaces.     

氦气冲刷螺旋管束传热的数值研究

采用CFD软件对氦气冲刷螺旋管束的传热特性进行了数值模拟。计算时采用了轴对称简化模型;湍流模拟采用低Re k-ε模型。通过与实验数据对比,发现低Re模型比壁面函数法更适合计算冲刷管束类型的流动。计算结果表明,顺排管束前几层平均Nu高于叉排管束,而深层管平均Nu低于叉排管束;管列距离较大时排列方式对深层管的传热影响很小;管束与边界距离约为管束中心部分氦气流道宽度的一半时,各列传热管传热和氦气出口温度都较为均匀;管束横向位置发生偏移将导致管束内流动、传热出现不均匀。结果对于螺旋管蒸汽发生器设计具有参考意义。     

A Review and Correlations for Convection Heat Transfer and Pressure Losses in Toroidal and Helically Coiled Tubes

The conducted review of the experiments for pressure losses and convection heat transfer in toroidal and coiled tubes yielded 2,410 pressure losses data for water, air, and ethylene glycol flows in 62 different coiled tubes. These data are used to develop a friction factor correlation, in terms of a modified Dean number. The compiled Nusselt number database of 176 data points for flows of water, air, and water–10% and 43.5% glycerol mixtures and additional 17 data points for flows of ethylene glycol, n-amyl alcohol, n-butanol, and n-amyl acetate, with higher Prandtl numbers of 15–175, is correlated in terms of the modified Reynolds number. The friction factor and Nusselt number correlations span the entire range of the data, and agree with the data to within ±20%. In addition, the experimental data of the critical Reynolds number are correlated to within ±10%. The developed correlations are compared to those reported previously. The comparison of the calculated results for a coiled tube and a straight tube, of the same diameter and total length, quantifies the relative heat transfer enhancement and increase in pressure losses. A review of the thermal development in toroidal and coiled tubes indicates that the value and the oscillatory behavior of the local Nusselt number depend on the angular location.     

空冷凝汽器椭圆翅片椭圆管束外空气的流动与传热特性

研究空冷凝汽器椭圆翅片椭圆管管束外空气的流动与传热特性,对火电站空冷岛的设计与运行具有重要意义.通过CFD模拟,获得了椭圆翅片椭圆管管束外冷却空气的流场和温度场,计算得到了空冷凝汽器冷却空气对流换热平均Nu和摩擦系数f随Re的变化规律,并采用最小二乘法拟合得到了相应的关联式.结果表明:随冷却空气流动Re的增大,Nu增大,f减小.     

Pressure drop and heat transfer augmentation due to coiled wire inserts during laminar flow of oil inside a horizontal tube

An experimental investigation has been carried out to study the enhancement in heat transfer coefficient by coiled wire inserts during heating of engine oil inside a horizontal tube. The test-section was a double-pipe counter-flow heat exchanger. The engine oil flowed inside the internal copper tube, while saturated steam, used for heating the oil, flowed in the annulus. First of all, the data were acquired for the heating of engine oil while flowing in the plain tube. Later, seven coiled wires having pitches of 12–69 mm and wire diameters of 2.0 mm and 3.5 mm were put one by one in the oil-side of test-section. The effects of Reynolds number and coiled wire geometry on the heat transfer augmentation and fanning friction factor were studied. Finally, two empirical correlations have been developed for predicting the heat transfer enhancement of these coiled wire inserts. These correlations predict the experimental Nusselt number in an error band of ±20 percent.     

Experimental investigation on the convective heat transfer of nanofluid flow inside vertical helically coiled tubes under uniform wall temperature condition

In this study, heat transfer enhancement of a nanofluid flow inside vertical helically coiled tubes has been investigated experimentally in the thermal entrance region. The temperature of the tube wall was kept constant at around 95 °C to have isothermal boundary condition. Experiments were conducted for fluid flow inside straight and helical tubes. In these experiments, the effects of a wide range of different parameters such as Reynolds and Dean numbers, geometrical parameters and nanofluid weight fractions have been studied. In order to investigate the effect of the fluid type on the heat transfer, pure heat transfer oil and nanofluids with weight concentrations of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4% were utilized as the working fluid. The thermo-physical properties of the working fluids were extremely temperature dependent; therefore, rough correlations were proposed to predict their properties. Based on the experimental data, utilizing helical coiled tubes instead of straight ones enhances the heat transfer rate remarkably. Besides, nanofluid flows showed much higher Nusselt numbers compared to the base fluid flow. Finally, it was observed that combination of the two enhancing methods has a noticeably high capability to the heat transfer rate.     

A heat transfer correlation of flow boiling in micro-finned helically coiled tube

Two main mechanisms, nucleate boiling and convective boiling, are widely accepted for in-tube flow boiling. Since the active nuclei on the heated wall are dominant for nucleate boiling and flow pattern governs the convective boiling, the heat transfer coefficient is strongly influenced by the wall heat flux, mass flux and vapor quality, respectively. In practical industrial applications, for example, the evaporators in refrigeration, forced convective evaporation is the dominant process and high heat transfer efficiency can be obtained under smaller temperature difference between wall and liquid. Therefore, it is of importance to develop a correlation of convective boiling heat transfer with a good accuracy. In this paper, a new kind of micro-finned helically coiled tube was developed and the flow boiling heat transfer characteristics were experimentally studied with R134a. Based on the analysis of the mechanisms of flow boiling, heat transfer correlations of the specific micro-finned helically coiled tubes are obtained.     

水平螺旋管外冷凝换热的理论分析与实验研究

用改进的Nusselt—Rohsenow方法分析了水平螺旋管外的层流膜状冷凝换热。考虑了粘性和重力的影响以及离心力对液膜流动和换热的影响。通过分析,得到了较通用的无量纲冷凝方程,并导出适合于其它几何形状换热元件的冷凝换热方程。经数值计算得到了在不同条件下的局部Nusselt数(Nu)和平均Nusselt数(?)。理论结果得到了实验数据的验证,并推荐了实用的传热计算公式。     

Experimental Study of Heat Transfer Enhancement for Fluid Flow Inside Annulus with Spiral Wires

The evaluation of heat transfer and pressure drop in a water flow inside an annulus of a double concentric-tube heat exchanger with spiral wires inserts was carried out. Three spiral wires with a constant pitch and different wire diameter were tested for a Reynolds number from 1500 to 5500 and a Prandtl number from 5 to 8. The results obtained showed that the spiral wires increased the heat transfer and the pressure drop in comparison with a fluid flow inside a smooth annulus. From the heat transfer point of view, this increase was proportional to the wire diameter but the effect decreases when the Reynolds number increases. General empirical correlations based on dimensionless parameters to calculate the convective heat transfer coefficient and friction factor were developed with an uncertainty of ±6.1% and ±7.6%, respectively, when these estimates were compared against experimental data. The empirical correlations developed were also compared with the estimates calculated by empirical correlations proposed by other researchers, resulting in a good agreement with these values. After the validation analysis, it was demonstrated that the new equations developed provide a good and reliable tool for the design of double concentric-tube heat exchangers with spiral wires inserted inside annulus.     

Heat transfer characteristics of a temperature-dependent-property fluid in shell and coiled tube heat exchangers

An experimental investigation was performed to study the heat transfer characteristics of temperature-dependent-property engine-oil inside shell and coiled tube heat exchangers. For this purpose, a well-instrumented set-up was designed and constructed. Three heat exchangers with different coil pitches were selected as the test section for counter-flow configuration. Engine-oil was circulated inside the inner coiled tube, while coolant water flowed in the shell. 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. An empirical correlation existed in the previous literature for evaluating the shell-side Nusselt number was invoked to calculate the heat transfer coefficients of the temperature-dependent-property fluid flowing in the tube-side of the heat exchangers. Using the data of the present study, an empirical correlation was developed to predict the heat transfer coefficients of the temperature-dependent-property fluid flowing inside the shell and coiled tube heat exchangers.     

A comparison between radial basis function (RBF) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to model the free convection in an open round cavity

This study demonstrates the capability of radial basis function (RBF) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to model and predict the free convection heat transfer in an open round cavity. In fact, the effects of the Rayleigh number (Ra) and ratio of the nonconductor barrier distance from the bottom of the cavity to the cavity diameter (H/D), on the free convection in the cavity, are modeled via the RBF and ANFIS models. To start modeling, sufficient data are gathered. Here, data are experimentally generated using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In the next step, the RBF and ANFIS models are trained. According to the results, there is an optimum ratio (H/D), in which the heat transfer is maximum. This maximum value increases by increasing the Rayleigh number (Ra). Moreover, based on the results obtained by the RBF and ANFIS, the predicted results for the convection heat transfer are in good agreement with similar ones obtained experimentally. The mean relative errors of the training, testing, and checking data for the RBF model were found as 0.1348%, 1.1972%, and 2.4967%, respectively. Moreover, for the ANFIS model, the error values were 0.0731%, 0.9110%, and 1.9144%, which shows that RBF and ANFIS can predict the results precisely.     

Influence of combined non-uniform wire coil and twisted tape inserts on thermal performance characteristics

In this paper, heat transfer, friction factor and thermal performance behaviors in a tube equipped with the combined devices between the twisted tape (TT) and constant/periodically varying wire coil pitch ratio are experimentally investigated. The periodically varying three coil pitch ratios were arranged into two different forms: (1) D-coil (decreasing coil pitch ratio arrangement) and (2) DI-coil (decreasing/increasing coil pitch ratio arrangement) while the twisted tapes were prepared with two different twist ratios. Each device alone is also tested and the results are subjected for comparison with those from the combined devices. The experiments were conducted in a turbulent flow regime with Reynolds numbers ranging from 4600 to 20,000 using air as the test fluid. Compared to each enhancement device, the heat transfer rate is further augmented by the compound devices. Over the range investigated, the highest thermal performance factor of around 1.25 is found by using DI-coil in common with the TT at lower Reynolds number. In addition, the empirical correlations of the heat transfer (Nu) and pressure drop (f) are also presented.     

Numerical Investigation of Heat Transfer Performance of Rectangularly Coiled Pipes

A numerical simulation was conducted to investigate convective heat transfer from small and compact coiled pipes heat exchangers using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software Fluent V6. One fluid (air) moves over the coiled pipe while a second fluid (refrigerant R141B) at different temperature flows through the pipe. The studied heat exchanger is composed with bends and straight tubes. Calculations were done for two cases with different outside flow arrangements. The simulation results showed remarkable differences in the flow characteristics and heat transfer rate of different single tubes of the entire heat exchangers. The temperature distribution and heat transfer are mainly influenced by temperature gradient, backflow conditions, exterior flow velocity, and surface area. The results also show the effect of the bends on the flow in straight tubes and vice-versa.     

Effects of heat exchanger tube geometries on nucleate pool boiling heat transfer in a scaled in-containment refueling water storage tank

To determine the combined effects of the heat exchanger tube geometries of advanced light water reactors (ALWRs) passive residual heat removal system (PRHRS) on the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer in a scaled in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST), a total of 1,966 data (1,076 with horizontal tubes and 890 with vertical tubes) for q″ versus ΔT has been obtained using various combinations of tube diameters, surface roughness, and tube orientation. The experimental results show that (1) for both horizontal and vertical tubes, increased surface roughness enhances heat transfer whereas increased tube diameter decreases heat transfer, (2) both effects of the surface roughness and the tube diameter on the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer are significantly greater for vertical tubes than horizontal tubes, (3) the effectiveness of two heat transfer mechanisms, i.e., enhanced heat transfer dur to liquid agitation by bubbles generated and reduced heat transfer by the formation of large vapor slugs and bubble coalescence, depends on the combined effects of the heat flux, surface roughness, and the tube orientation. In addition, two different forms of empirical heat transfer correlations are obtained that fit present experimental data within +35 and −20%.     

Analysis of coiled-tube heat exchangers to improve heat transfer rate with spirally corrugated wall

Steady heat transfer enhancement has been studied in helically coiled-tube heat exchangers. The outer side of the wall of the heat exchanger contains a helical corrugation which makes a helical rib on the inner side of the tube wall to induce additional swirling motion of fluid particles. Numerical calculations have been carried out to examine different geometrical parameters and the impact of flow and thermal boundary conditions for the heat transfer rate in laminar and transitional flow regimes. Calculated results have been compared to existing empirical formulas and experimental tests to investigate the validity of the numerical results in case of common helical tube heat exchanger and additionally results of the numerical computation of corrugated straight tubes for laminar and transition flow have been validated with experimental tests available in the literature. Comparison of the flow and temperature fields in case of common helical tube and the coil with spirally corrugated wall configuration are discussed. Heat exchanger coils with helically corrugated wall configuration show 80–100% increase for the inner side heat transfer rate due to the additionally developed swirling motion while the relative pressure drop is 10–600% larger compared to the common helically coiled heat exchangers. New empirical correlation has been proposed for the fully developed inner side heat transfer prediction in case of helically corrugated wall configuration.