Experimental study on boiling heat transfer and two-phase frictional pressure drop characteristics of glycol-water solution in a vertical porous surface tube

Abstract

Although much research has been conducted on investigating the flow boiling heat transfer of low saturation temperature refrigerants, there are few experimental data and theory about the flow boiling heat transfer of high saturation temperature organic mixture which exists widely in the petrochemical industry. To investigate the characteristics of flow boiling heat transfer of high saturation temperature organic mixture, experiments of glycol-water solution flow boiling in a vertical porous surface tube and a vertical smooth tube are conducted. Test tubes are uniformly heated by electrical current with a heated length of 2,000 mm. The mass flux in the experiment ranges from 500 to 1,500t⋅h−1 and the heat flux on test tubes ranges from 10 to 40 kW⋅m−2. The flow boiling heat transfer coefficients and two-phase frictional pressure drops of the two types of tubes are obtained and compared. The results indicate that: the flow boiling heat transfer coefficient in the porous surface tube is 3.8∼5.7 times of that in smooth tube and the pressure drop of the porous surface tube is 0.99∼1.007 times of that in the smooth tube. The physical mechanisms of the enhanced heat transfer characteristics of flow boiling in the porous surface tube are analyzed. By the regression analysis of the experimental data, correlations predicting the flow boiling heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of glycol-water solution within the error range of ±20% are established. The experimental results can be used to guide the design of heat exchange equipment using the porous surface tube as heat transfer elements under these test conditions.