Experimental correlation for critical heat flux in helical coils

Abstract

The present work experimentally investigated the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) phenomena in helical coils. Literature on the CHF in helical coils is scarce. The centrifugal force and hence secondary flows of fluid is generated inside the coil due to its curvature. The Secondary flows of fluids may affect the heat transfer mechanism and hence, CHF inside helical coils. In present work, the experimental CHF data is compared with correlation available in literature. Fifteen empirical CHF correlations, that include correlation developed for straight horizontal tubes and helical coils, are compared with the experimental CHF databank. The CHF databank contains 413 CHF data of different helical coils. The data includes two fluids namely refrigerant R123 and water. Data covers the parameter range of tube diameter 5.5–10 mm, coil to tube diameter ratio 14–58, mass flux 92–2062 kg/m2s, heat flux 37–2984 kW/m2, density ratio 31–1352 and exit quality −0.1 to 1.2. The data mainly covers CHF in redeposition zone. The helical coil correlations are working reasonably well for long length helical coils but not working for short length helical coils. The straight tubes correlations are working reasonably well for all helical coils data. A generalised correlation is suggested for CHF in helical coils. The experimental data of CHF is published to contribute to the databank for helical coils.