Enhanced boiling heat transfer in restricted spaces of a compact tube bundle with enhanced tubes

In flooded-type tube bundle evaporators with smooth tubes and general tube gaps, both wall superheat and heat flux are generally quite low and boiling cannot occur on the heated tubes. But when the tube gap is quite small or the enhanced heat transfer tubes are employed, the incipient boiling can occur at low heat flux levels and results in a significant heat transfer enhancement effect. This study investigates experimentally enhancement effects by the restricted space comprising the compact tube bundle and the enhanced tubes for boiling heat transfer of pure water and salt-water mixtures under atmospheric pressure. The experimental results show that the small tube gaps can greatly enhance boiling heat transfer for the compact enhanced tube bundle.     

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%.     

Enhancement of boiling heat transfer in a 5 × 3 tube bundle

The results of an experimental investigation on nucleate boiling heat transfer in an electrically heated 5 × 3 in-line horizontal tube bundle under pool and low cross-flow conditions of saturated water near atmospheric pressure are presented here. It is observed that the heat transfer coefficient is minimum on bottom row tubes and increases in the upward direction with maximum values on top row tubes. Also, heat transfer coefficient on central column tubes was found to be slightly higher than those on the corresponding side tubes. Further, a Chen-type relation has been used to determine the local boiling heat transfer coefficient on a tube in a heated tube bundle.     

Analysis of pool boiling heat transfer: effect of bubbles sliding on the heating surface

Pool boiling on surfaces where sliding bubble mechanism plays an important role has been studied. The heat transfer phenomenon for such cases has been analysed. The model considers different mechanisms such as latent heat transfer due to microlayer evaporation, transient conduction due to thermal boundary layer reformation, natural convection and heat transfer due to the sliding bubbles. Both microlayer evaporation and transient conduction take place during the sliding of bubbles, which occurs in geometries such as inclined surfaces and horizontal tubes. The model has been validated against experimental results from literature for water, refrigerant R134a and propane. The model was found to agree well for these fluids over a wide range of pressures. The model shows the importance of the contributions of the different mechanisms for different fluids, wall superheats and pressures.     

紧凑满液型叉排管束蒸发换热器内水的沸腾强化换热特性

采用紧凑满液型蒸发换热器,利用水平传热管叉排管束狭窄空间内早期沸腾强化换热机理将中小热负 荷条件下的自然对流换热转化为旺盛核沸腾换热,换热性能大大优于传统的降膜式蒸发换热器。对水平传热管 管束在受限空间内沸腾强化换热进行实验研究,确认了紧凑满液式水平管蒸发换热器具有良好的换热性能,传 热管在管束中的位置对换热特性已经没有明显影响,随着压力增加,受限空间内沸腾强化换热强化效果显著增 加。     

The Effect of Novel Plasma-Coated Compact Tube Bundles on Pool Boiling

Boiling heat transfer of R-134a on a porous, plasma-coated tube bundle was investigated experimentally to determine the effects of the number of tube rows and the total tube number. The bundle consists of up to four tubes with a pitch-to-diameter-ratio of 1.33. Heat transfer coefficients for a single tube with a porous copper coating were up to four times higher than for a smooth tube. Observations showed that the plasma coating enhanced the heat transfer coefficient in tube bundles as well. The bundle factor of the coated tube bundle showed a similar, slightly increased trend as the smooth tube bundles. The enhancement effect of the coated tubes decreases to a certain extent with an increasing heat flux and decreasing saturation temperature. However, it is significantly less pronounced than trends that have been reported from other investigations. The aim of a stable enhanced coating was confirmed by long-term experiments with steady results.     

Enhanced Boiling Heat Transfer of Water/Salt Mixtures in the Restricted Space of the Compact Tube Bundle

In desalinization devices and some heat exchangers making use of low-quality heat energy, both the wall temperature and the heat flux of the heated tubes are generally quite low, hence cannot cause boiling in flooded-type tube bundle evaporators with a large tube spacing. But when the tube spacing is quite small, incipient boiling can occur in the restricted space and results in higher heat transfer than that in a falling-film evaporator or during pool boiling at the same heat flux. This study experimentally investigates the effects of the tube spacing, the positions of tubes, and the salt-water concentration on bundle boiling heat transfer of salt water in the restricted space of the compact tube bundle evaporator under atmospheric pressure. The experimental results provide a restricted space boiling database for salt water in the compact tube bundle. Of particular importance is information concerning the influences of the tube spacing of the tube bundle and the concentration of salt water in desalination evaporators.     

Experimental investigation of in-line tube bundle heat transfer process to vertical downward foam flow

Usage of two phase flow as a coolant allows to reach more intensive heat transfer process. This paper presents the results of the investigation of the heat transfer between the in-line tube bundle and statically stable aqueous foam flow. The flow of the foam was generated at the top of the experimental channel and crossed down the tubes of the bundle (the diameter of the tubes was 0.02 m; horizontal and vertical distances between the centers of the tubes – 0.03 m). This investigation allowed determining the dependence of the heat transfer intensity of the tubes to foam flow on the volumetric flow rate and volumetric void fraction of the foam. The influence of tube position in the bundle on the intensity of heat transfer was found in this experimental study: the intensity of the heat transfer between the middle tube and the downward foam flow was determined to be higher comparing to the intensity between the tubes in both sideways of the bundle and the downward foam flow. The results of investigation showed that an average heat transfer intensity of the tubes of in-line bundle to downward without any turning foam flow was higher than that in the case of the downward after 180° turning foam flow. The results of this experimental study were generalized using the empirical equation between heat transfer coefficient from one side and the volumetric flow rate and volumetric void fraction of the foam from the other side.     

Nucleate pool boiling characteristics from coated tube bundles in saturated R-134a

Nucleate pool boiling heat transfer from plasma coated copper tube bundles with porous copper (Cu) immersed in saturated R-134a was experimentally studied. The bundle is composed of 15 tubes (of which the number of heated/instrumented tubes was varied) arranged in four different configurations with a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.5. The influences of various parameters, for instance, bundle arrangements and heat flux were clarified. Tests were conducted with both increasing and decreasing the heat flux. The data presented indicated that at low heat fluxes, the vertical-in-line tube bundles have the highest bundle factor. A configuration factor was proposed which can be used to characterize the geometric arrangements of the bundles.     

Condensation in a vertical tube bundle passive condenser – Part 2: Complete condensation

An experimental study of the tube bundle effect on heat removal capabilities in complete condensation mode of a passive condenser was performed. A full scale test section, with four condenser tubes, was designed and constructed to simulate operating conditions of a passive containment cooling system. For complete condensation analysis, pure steam was supplied to the test section and heat transfer properties were measured for pressure from 100 to 280 kPa. The condensation heat transfer results were similar to the findings from single tubes, except for a slightly higher condensate mass flux. This was determined to be a result of turbulent mixing in the secondary boiling water caused by the tube bundle.     

Enhanced Condenser Tubes in a Nuclear Power Plant for Heat Rate Improvement

Analysis was performed to determine the performance and economic benefits of using enhanced condenser tubes in an existing nuclear plant. This work consisted of using measured heat transfer and friction performance of two enhanced tube geometries to calculate the resulting reduction of condenser saturation temperature. Using the known plant heat rate and heat rate correction factor, we calculated the increased plant generation capacity, relative to the plain tube condenser design. Detailed analysis was done for the Wieland NW-16 and the Wolverine Korodense-LPD tubes, which are estimated to cost about 23% more than plain tubes. Simple payback analysis of the Wieland NW-16 “new tube bundle” tube shows that the annual average heat rate is reduced 3.83% and the increased tube cost can be recovered in 0.036 years based on the increased generation capacity valued at $2000/kW. Tube-for-tube replacement provides a payback of 0.054 years. For the month of July, the heat rate (with new bundle) is reduced 3.83% and the increased generation rate is 37 MW. Further detail is given on accelerated particulate fouling testing, which shows that the tubes are cleanable with the sponge-ball cleaning system.     

Numerical Simulation of Bubbles Deformation,Flow, and Coalescence in a Microchannel Under Pseudo-Nucleation Conditions

This paper reports the results of numerical study on bubbles deformation, flow, and coalescence under pseudo-nucleate boiling conditions in horizontal mini-/microchannels. The numerical simulation, which is based on the multiphase model of volume of fluid method, aims to study the corresponding flow behaviors of nucleate bubbles generated from the tube walls in mini-/microchannels so as to understand the effect of confined surfaces/walls on nucleate bubbles and heat transfer. Under the pseudo- or quasi-nucleate boiling condition, superheated small vapor bubbles are injected at the wall to ensure that the bubbles generation is under a similar condition of real nucleation. The numerical study examined the fluid mechanics of bubble motion with heat transfer, but the mass transfer across the bubble–liquid interface is not simulated in the present work.     

Heat transfer and size distribution of active nucleation sites in boiling propane outside a tube

Size distributions of active nucleation sites in pool boiling of propane on the outside of single horizontal copper and steel tubes with different surface finishes (emery ground and fine sandblasted) have been calculated from heat transfer measurements over wide ranges of heat flux and pressure. The model assumptions of Schömann for the heat transfer near growing and departing bubbles, which were applied in the calculations, have been modified and the calculated results have been compared to experimental investigations by high-speed video techniques. New measurements of the departure diameter d_A and frequency f of the bubbles at the same conditions as the heat transfer measurements show that d_A and f are influenced by the azimuthal position of the active nucleation sites on the tube and that the calculated results react sensitively to the input data for d_A and f . A modification of the model is proposed.     

Effect of tube bundles on nucleate boiling and critical heat flux

In order to elucidate boiling heat transfer characteristics for each tube and the critical heat flux (CHF) for tube bundles, an experimental investigation of pool and flow boiling of Freon-113 at 0.1 MPa was performed using two typical tube arrangements. A total of fifty heating tubes of 14 mm diameter, equipped with thermocouples and cartridge heaters, were arrayed at pitches of 18.2 and 21.0 mm to simulate both square in-line and equilateral staggered bundles. For the flow boiling tests the same bundles as were used in pool boiling were installed in a vertical rectangular channel, to which the fluid was supplied with an approach velocity varying from 0.022 to 0.22 m/s. It was found in this study that the boiling heat transfer coefficient of each tube in a bundle was higher than that for an isolated single tube in pool boiling. This enhancement increases for tubes at higher locations, but decreases as heat flux is increased. At heat fluxes exceeding certain values, the heat transfer coefficient becomes the same as that for an isolated tube. As the heat flux approaches the CHF, flow pulsations occurred in the pool boiling experiments although the heat transfer coefficient was invariant even under this situation. The approach velocity has an appreciable effect on heat transfer up to a certain level of heat flux. In this range of heat flux, the heat transfer coefficient exceeds the values observed for pool boiling. An additive method with two contributions, i.e., single phase convection and boiling, was used to predict the heat transfer coefficient for bundles. The predicted results showed reasonable agreement with the measured results. The critical heat flux in tube bundles tended to increase as more bubbles were rising through the tube clearance. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Jpn Res, 27(4): 312–325, 1998     

Film Condensation of R-134a and R-236fa,Part 2: Experimental Results and Predictive Correlation for Bundle Condensation on Enhanced Tubes

Local test results for two enhanced condensing tubes (next-generation versions of the Wieland Gewa and Wolverine Turbo enhanced condensing tubes) are obtained for refrigerants R-134a and R-236fa on the center row of a three row-wide tube bundle. The “bundle effect” on the heat transfer performance of the test section is observed and described. New predictive methods for falling film condensation on bundles are proposed, based on a modification of the previous vertical single-row method with condensate slinging. The modifications performed to the experimental setup to allow for bundle tests are described. For two types of enhanced tubes and two refrigerants, the local heat flux is correlated as a function of condensation temperature difference, the film Reynolds number, the tube spacing, and liquid slinging effect.     

Enhanced Boiling Outside 8 × 3 Plain and Coated Tube Bundles

Experiments were conducted for pool boiling on the outside of 8 × 3 (eight rows and three columns) plain and coated tube (surface roughness = 8.279 μm) bundles for three different pitch distances with the distinct objective to study the behavior and the enhancement of boiling heat transfer in horizontal staggered tube bundles (of plain and coated tubes for different equilateral triangular arrangements) with heat flux values ranging from ～12 to 45 kW/m². At higher heat fluxes, coated and plain tube bundles had almost similar bundle average heat transfer coefficients at a given pitch distance, while at lower heat fluxes, the coated tube bundles have higher bundle average heat transfer coefficients as compared to that of the plain tube bundle. The coated tube bundles with the minimum pitch to diameter ratio of 1.4 exhibited the maximum bundle average heat transfer coefficients. The present study concludes that the bundle factor needs to be considered in the design of flooded evaporators.     

On the rise paths of single vapor bubbles after the departure from nucleation sites in subcooled upflow boiling

A photographic study was carried out for the subcooled flow boiling of water to elucidate the rise characteristics of single vapor bubbles after the departure from nucleation sites. The test section was a transparent glass tube of 20 mm in inside diameter and the flow direction was vertical upward; liquid subcooling was parametrically changed within 0–16 K keeping system pressure and liquid velocity at 120 kPa and 1 m/s, respectively. The bubble rise paths were analyzed from the video images that were obtained at the heat flux slightly higher than the minimum heat flux for the onset of nucleate boiling. In the present experiments, all the bubbles departed from their nucleation sites immediately after the inception. In low subcooling experiments, bubbles slid upward and consequently were not detached from the vertical heated wall; the bubble size was increased monotonously with time in this case. In moderate and high subcooling experiments, bubbles were detached from the wall after sliding for several millimeters and migrated towards the subcooled bulk liquid. The bubbles then reversed the direction of lateral migration and were reattached to the wall at moderate subcooling while they collapsed due to the condensation at high subcooling. It was hence considered that the mechanisms of the heat transfer from heated wall and the axial growth of vapor volume were influenced by the difference in bubble rise path. It was observed after the inception that bubbles were varied from flattened to more rounded shape. This observation suggested that the bubble detachment is mainly caused by the change in bubble shape due to the surface tension force.     

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。     

Falling film evaporation heat transfer of water/salt mixtures from roll-worked enhanced tubes and tube bundle

An experimental study is carried out for enhancement of falling film evaporation heat transfer of pure water and water/salt mixtures on horizontal smooth tube and two kinds of structured tube bundles under atmospheric pressure. The experimental results show that the low-cost roll-worked tube can greatly enhance the evaporation heat transfer performance of the falling film, and make it comparable to that of expensive commercial enhanced tubes such as GEWA-T tubes, TE tubes and HF tubes, even at low and moderate heat flux levels. The average evaporation heat transfer coefficients for the roll-worked tube bundle are basically independent from the parameters tested such as flow and heating conditions, salt-concentrations, as well as geometries of the tube bundles. The present experimental data result in a constant heat transfer coefficient; α≈20 kW/m² K, in the convective heat transfer range of the heat fluxes <10⁵ W/m².     

Enhancement of boiling heat transfer in restricted spaces in compact horizontal tube bundles

ln desalinization devices and some heat exchangers making use of low‐quality heat energy, both wall temperatures and heat fluxes of heated tubes are quite low and generally cannot cause boiling in flooded‐type tube bundle evaporators with a large tube spacing. But when the tube spacing is very small, boiling in restricted spaces can occur and induce a higher heat transfer than that of a falling film or pool boiling at the same heat flux. This study investigated experimentally the effects of tube spacing, positions of tubes, and heating status of tubes as well as surface status (smooth and roll‐worked) on boiling in restricted spaces in compact horizontal tube bundle evaporators under atmospheric pressure. The experimental results provide a restricted space boiling database for water in smooth and enhanced surface tube bundles. Of particular importance is information concerning the influence of tube spacing of flooded‐type tube bundle evaporators, especially for the case of zero pitch, when the neighboring tubes are contacting each other. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 30(5): 394–401, 2001