Behavioral study of alumina nanoparticles in pool boiling heat transfer on a vertical surface

Experiments were carried out to investigate the pool boiling of alumina‐water nanofluid at 0.1 g/l to 0.5 g/l of distilled water, and the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer of pure water and nanofluid at different mass concentrations were compared at and above the atmospheric pressure. At atmospheric pressure, different concentrations of nanofluids display different degrees of deterioration in boiling heat transfer. The effect of pressure and concentration of nanoparticles revealed significant enhancement in heat flux and deterioration in pool boiling. The heat transfer coefficient of 0.5 g/l alumina‐water nanofluid was compared with pure water and clearly indicates deterioration. At all pressures the heat transfer coefficients of the nanofluid were lower than those of pure water. Experimental observation revealed particles coating over the heater surface and subsequent SEM inspection of the heater surface showed nanoparticles coating on the surface forming a porous layer. To substantiate the nanoparticle deposition and its effect on heat flux, investigation was done by measuring the surface roughness of the heater surface before and after the experiment. While SEM images of the heater surface revealed nanoparticle deposition, surface roughness of the heater surface confirmed it. Based on the experimental investigations it can be concluded that an optimum thickness of nanoparticles coating favors an increase in heat flux. Higher surface temperature due to the presence of nanoparticles coating results in the deterioration of boiling heat transfer. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20365     

Falling Films on Arrays of Horizontal Tubes with R-134a,Part I: Boiling Heat Transfer Results for Four Types of Tubes

A new falling film heat transfer test facility has been built for the measurement of local heat transfer coefficients on a vertical array of horizontal tubes, including flow visualization capabilities, for use with refrigerants. Presently, the facility has been used for evaporation tests on four types of tubes at three tube pitches and three nominal heat flux levels for R-134a at 5°C. A new method for determining local heat transfer coefficients using hot water heating has been applied, and test results for a wide range of liquid film Reynolds numbers have been measured for arrays made of plain, Turbo-BII HP, Gewa-B, and High-Flux tubes. The results show that there is a transition to partial dryout as the film Reynolds number is reduced, marked by a sharp falloff in heat transfer. Above this transition, the heat transfer coefficients are nearly insensitive to the film Reynolds number, apparently because vigorous nucleate boiling is always seen in the liquid film. The corresponding nucleate pool boiling data for the four types of tubes were also measured for direct comparison purposes. Overall, about 15,000 local heat transfer data points were obtained in this study as a function of heat flux, film Reynolds number, tube spacing, and type.     

Flow Boiling Heat Transfer of Refrigerant R-134a in Copper Microchannel Heat Sink

In this paper we present experimental data on heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics at flow boiling of refrigerant R-134a in a horizontal microchannel heat sink. The primary objective of this study was to experimentally establish how the local heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop correlate with the heat flux, mass flux, and vapor quality. The copper microchannel heat sink contains 21 microchannels with 335 × 930 μm² cross section. The microchannel plate and heating block were divided by the partition wall for the local heat flux measurements. Distribution of local heat transfer coefficients along the length and width of the microchannel plate was measured in the range of external heat fluxes from 50 to 500 kW/m²; the mass flux varied within 200–600 kg/m²-s, and pressure varied within 6–16 bar. The obvious impact of heat flux on the magnitude of heat transfer coefficient was observed. It showed that nucleate boiling is the dominant mechanism for heat transfer. A new model of flow boiling heat transfer, considering nucleate boiling suppression and liquid film evaporation, was proposed and verified experimentally in this paper.     

CHF in a circumferentially non‐uniformly heated tube under low‐pressure and low‐mass‐flux condition (inclined upward flow)

Most investigations on forced convective boiling have been conducted by using uniformly heated round tubes under a vertical upward flow condition, although the actual system has a non‐uniformly heated condition with several tube orientations. The non‐uniformity of the heat flux and tube inclination causes the liquid film distribution, which in turn affects the critical heat flux. In this investigation, the flow and heat‐transfer characteristics were experimentally investigated under non‐uniformly heated conditions along the circumferential direction with a 45° tube inclination. In the experiment, CHF was measured by using two different heated lengths, i.e., 900 and 1800 mm. The experimental results showed a unique tendency of CHF caused by the interrelationship of the non‐uniform heat flux distribution, the tube inclination, and liquid film redistribution. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20333     

Heat transfer characteristics during subcooled flow boiling of a kerosene kind hydrocarbon fuel in a 1 mm diameter channel

The subcooled flow boiling heat transfer characteristics of a kerosene kind hydrocarbon fuel were investigated in an electrically heated horizontal tube with an inner diameter of 1.0 mm, in the range of heat flux: 20–1500 kW/m², fluid temperature: 25–400 °C, mass flux: 1260–2160 kg/m² s, and pressure: 0.25–2.5 MPa. It was proposed that nucleate boiling heat transfer mechanism is dominant, as the heat transfer performance is dependent on heat flux imposed on the channel, rather than the fuel flow rate. It was found that the wall temperatures along the test section kept constant during the fully developed subcooled boiling (FDSB) of the non-azeotropic hydrocarbon fuel. After the onset of nucleate boiling, the temperature differences between inner wall and bulk fluid begin to decrease with the increase of heat flux. Experimental results show that the complicated boiling heat transfer behavior of hydrocarbon fuel is profoundly affected by the pressure and heat flux, especially by fuel subcooling. A correlation of heat transfer coefficients varying with heat fluxes and fuel subcooling was curve fitted. Excellent agreement is obtained between the predicted values and the experimental data.     

Enhancement of pool boiling heat transfer in water and ethanol/water mixtures (effect of surface‐active agent)

The surface tension of alcohol/water mixtures has been measured over the whole fraction range and then it has been measured when a surface‐active agent was added into the mixtures. The effect of the concentration of alcohol and the surface‐ active agent on surface tension was experimentally clarified, in order to gain base data related to enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient in the mixtures and water. The experiment was also carried out to enhance the boiling heat transfer coefficients of water and alcohol/water mixtures on a horizontal heated fine wire at a pressure of 0.1 MPa by adding a surface‐active agent into the tested liquid. The results show, the coefficients were enhanced in lower alcohol concentration (C ≦ 0.5) and low heat flux range which occur just after the onset of boiling. It was also found that the enhancement effect by the surfactant disappears in concentrations over 1000 ppm. Finally, we demonstrated that the surface tension remarkably affects the heat transfer coefficients in nucleate pool boiling. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 33(4): 229–244, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20010     

Two-Phase Flow and Boiling Heat Transfer in Small-Diameter Tubes

For the development of a high-performance heat exchanger using small channels or minichannels for air-conditioning systems, it is necessary to clarify the characteristics of vapor‐liquid two-phase flow and heat transfer of refrigerants in small-diameter tubes. In this keynote paper, the related research works that have already been performed by the author and coworkers are introduced. Based on the observations and experiments of R410A flowing in small-diameter circular and noncircular tubes with hydraulic diameter of about 1 mm, the characteristics of vapor‐liquid two-phase flow pattern and boiling heat transfer were clarified. In low quality or mass flux and low heat flux condition, in which the flow was mainly slug, the “liquid film conduction evaporation” heat transfer peculiar to small-diameter tubes prevailed and exhibited considerably good heat transfer compared to nucleate boiling and forced convection evaporation heat transfer. The effects of the tube cross-sectional shape and flow direction on the heat transfer primarily appeared in the region of the “liquid film conduction evaporation” heat transfer. A new heat transfer correlation considering all of three contributions has been developed for small circular tubes.     

Transient boiling heat transfer performances of subcooled water during quenching process

Transient boiling of subcooled water on a vertical flat surface during quenching process was visually observed using high-speed photography technology and analyzed by special boiling heat transfer models. After the quenching process began, the nucleation was initiated within a short time, and then followed by the outbreak transition boiling with extremely unstable bubbles and sharp heat flux increment which lasted only for about 1 s. According to the boiling curves, the nucleate boiling should be divided into two stages including the stable nucleate boiling and transition nucleate boiling with the effects of initial conditions. The outbreak transition boiling was first studied by special boiling curve corresponding to the temperature decrement, and was further analyzed using a theoretical model based on the combination of the boiling heat flux evolution and lumped parameter assumption. The results showed that the boiling curve of outbreak transition boiling predicted by the theoretical model had a good agreement with experimental data and the heat flux almost had linear relation with the square root of temperature decrement.     

Fundamental Issues Related to Flow Boiling and Two-Phase Flow Patterns in Microchannels – Experimental Challenges and Opportunities

ABSTRACT

Flow boiling heat transfer in microchannels is used today in many diverse applications. The previous studies addressing the effect of channel size, heat flux, vapor quality, and mass flux on heat transfer during flow boiling are reviewed in the present paper. The relationship between flow characteristics and flow boiling heat transfer was studied experimentally for refrigerant R-C318 at moderate reduced pressures where the contribution of nucleate boiling is decisive. Flow boiling mechanisms were identified using an annular microchannel with transparent outer wall for successive visualization of boiling. The considerable suppression of nucleate boiling heat transfer was observed at transition to annular flow and explained by formation of a liquid flow with thin film and dry spots. A general equation for prediction of two-phase flow boiling heat transfer inside the circular, annular, and rectangular microchannels is proposed and verified using the experimental data. This equation accounts for the nucleate boiling suppression, forced convection, and thin film evaporative heat transfer in the form that allows to distinguish more clearly the contribution of each mechanism of heat transfer under the conditions, when it is predominant. A new approach for prediction of transition to the annular flow is proposed and verified, using the experimental data.     

Nucleate boiling on the superhydrophilic surface with a small water impingement jet

In this study, the coating process on the copper surface with titanium dioxide (TiO₂) has been introduced. The coated surface exhibits extremely high affinity for water and the solid–liquid contact angle decreases nearly to zero by exposing the surface to ultra-violet light. This superhydrophilic characteristic was applied to nucleate boiling heat transfer of water jet impingement on a flat heated plate. By making use of this special heat transfer surface, the nucleate boiling heat transfer and the critical heat flux (CHF) of a bar water jet impingement on a large flat superhydrophilic surface was experimentally investigated. The experimental data were measured in a steady state. The purified water was employed as the working liquid. Three main influencing factors, i.e., subcooling, impact velocity and the surface coating condition, were changed and their effects on the nucleate boiling heat transfer and the CHF were investigated. The empirical correlations were obtained for predicting the CHF of steady boiling for a small round water jet impingement on a large flat superhydrophilic surface. The experimental results show that the CHF on the superhydrophilic surface is about 30% higher than that on conventional copper surface by decreasing the solid–liquid contact angle.     

Nucleate and film boiling on a microheater under pulse heating in a microchannel

Using MEMS technology, a Pt microheater (60 × 100 µm²) fabricated on a glass wafer is placed in a silicon-based microchannel of trapezoidal cross section. With the aid of a high-speed CCD and based on Pt's linear temperature-resistance characteristic, flow boiling phenomena and temperature response on the surface of the microheater in the microchannel under pulse heating are observed and recorded. At a given mass flux, nucleate boiling and film boiling begin to appear on the microheater with increasing heat flux. A flow boiling map, showing the effects of heat and mass flux on nucleate and film boiling regimes on the microheater at a pulse heating width of 2 ms, is presented. It is found that nucleate boiling is changed to film boiling as the heat flux supplied to the microheater is increased. Furthermore, increasing mass flux increases the heat flux required for the incipience of nucleate boiling and film boiling on the microheater in the microchannel.     

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.     

Falling water film evaporation on newly-designed enhanced tube bundles

Experimental studies are presented on falling film evaporation of water on 6-row horizontal enhanced tube bundles in a vacuum condition. Turbo-CAB (19 fpi and 26 fpi), Korodense, and smooth tubes were tested in a range of film Reynolds number from about 10 to 110 and in the condition of only convective evaporation, without nucleate boiling. The flow modes and heat flux will affect the transition Reynolds numbers. Tubes with enhanced inner surface provide better heat transfer performance. Hotter heating water may lead to better heat transfer performance mainly due to higher heat fluxes. Correlations were also derived to predict the heat transfer coefficients and the enhancement ratio.     

Experimental and theoretical studies on subcooled flow boiling of pure liquids and multicomponent mixtures

To improve the design of modern industrial reboilers, accurate knowledge of boiling heat transfer coefficients is essential. In this study flow boiling heat transfer coefficients for binary and ternary mixtures of acetone, isopropanol and water were measured over a wide range of heat flux, subcooling, flow velocity and composition. The measurements cover the regimes of convective heat transfer, transitional boiling and fully developed subcooled flow boiling. Two models are presented for the prediction of flow boiling heat transfer coefficients. The first model is the combination of the Chen model with the Gorenflo correlation and the Schlünder model for single and multicomponent boiling, respectively. This model predicts flow boiling heat transfer coefficients with acceptable accuracy, but fails to predict the nucleate boiling fraction NBF reasonably well. The second model is based on the asymptotic addition of forced convective and nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficients. The benefit of this model is a further improvement in the accuracy of flow boiling heat transfer coefficient over the Chen type model, simplicity and the more realistic prediction of the nucleate boiling fraction NBF.     

An investigation of vapor concentration during boiling of a liquid mixture: Measurement of temperature and concentration variations of vapor in bubbles

Variations of the vapor concentration of a water‐ethanol mixture during saturated nucleate pool boiling were studied. The temperature changes of the vapor in bubbles produced by the boiling were measured at several different positions near the boiling surface by using a thin thermocouple having high responsivity. The superheat of the bubbles was initially higher in the superheated liquid layer near the heat transfer surface and then approached the bulk temperature along the upward direction. It was clarified that the temperature and concentration differences of the bubbles from the bulk almost disappeared at a height of 3 to 5 mm from the heat transfer surface and within 20 ms after the appearance of the bubbles. Thus, the former result of the liquid‐vapor equilibrium with the bulk condition was confirmed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(6): 475–485, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10047     

Zero‐flux zone model analysis of a single bubble in boiling liquid

We start from a bubble, the basic unit of boiling, to explore liquid boiling. Research indicates that the heat and mass transfer between liquid and vapor is the determinant factor of boiling heat transfer. We have analyzed interfacial vaporization and condensation of a single bubble in boiling liquid based on a zero‐flux zone model. We have deduced the expression of zero‐flux angle and discussed the relationship between zero‐flux zone and the other parameters in order to comprehend the mechanism of boiling heat transfer. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(4): 249–256, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10026     

A theoretical study of evaporative heat transfer in high‐velocity two‐phase flow of air–water in a small vertical tube

A theoretical study was performed to investigate the evaporative heat transfer of high‐velocity two‐phase flow of air–water in a small vertical tube under both heating conditions of constant wall temperature and constant heat flux. A simplified two‐phase flow boundary layer model was used to evaluate the evaporative heat transfer characteristics of the annular two‐phase flow. The analytical results show that the gravitational force, the gas–liquid surface tension force, and the inertial force are much smaller than the frictional force and hence can be neglected for a small tube. The evaporative heat transfer characteristics of the small tube with constant wall temperature are quite close to those of the small tube with constant heat flux. The mechanism of the heat transfer enhancement is the forced convective evaporation on the surface of the thin liquid film. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 32(5): 430–444, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10110     

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%.     

Cross Vapor Stream Effect on Falling Film Evaporation in Horizontal Tube Bundle Using R134a

The falling film evaporation of R134a with nucleate boiling outside a triangular-pitch (2-3-2-3) tube bundle is experimentally investigated, and the effects of saturation temperature, film flow rate and heat flux on heat transfer performance are studied. To study the effect of cross vapor stream on the falling film evaporation, a novel test section is designed, including the tube bundle, liquid and extra vapor distributors. The measurements without extra vapor are conducted at the saturation temperature of 6, 10 and 16°C, film Reynolds number of 220 to 2650, and heat flux of 20 to 60 kWm^?2. Cross vapor stream effect experiments are operated at three heat fluxes 20, 30, and 40 kWm^?2 and two film flow rates of 0.035 and 0.07 kgm^?1s^?1, and the vapor velocity at the smallest clearance in the tube bundle varies from 0 to 2.4 ms^?1. The results indicate that: film flow rate, heat flux and saturation temperature significantly influence the heat transfer; the cross vapor stream either promote or inhibit the falling film evaporation, depending on the tube position, film flow rate, heat flux and vapor velocity.     

Heat transfer for flow boiling of water and critical heat flux in a half‐heated round tube under low‐pressure conditions

Heat transfer for flow boiling of water and critical heat flux (CHF) experiments in a half‐circumferentially heated round tube under low‐pressure conditions were carried out. To clarify the flow patterns in the heated section, experiments in the round tube under the same conditions were also carried out, and their results were compared. The experiments were conducted with atmospheric‐pressure water in test sections with inner diameter D = 6 mm, heated length L = 360 mm, inlet water subcooling ΔT_in = 80 K, and mass velocity G from 0 to 2000 kg/(m²·s) for the half‐circumferentially heated round tube and from 0 to 7000 kg/(m²·s) for the full‐circumferentially heated tube. The experimental data demonstrated that the wall temperature near the outlet of the half‐circumferentially heated tube remained almost the same until CHF. It was found that burnout occurred when the flow regime changed from churn flow to annular flow, and the liquid film on the heated wall dried out although liquid film on the unheated wall remained. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(3): 149–164, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10022