Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Measurements During Boiling in Vertical Tubes with Coiled-Wire Inserts

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe paper presents thermal and flow analyses of the boiling process of R507, R410 and R407 C refrigerants inside vertical tubes (21 mm) with coiled-wire inserts and various coil diameters (20; 20.5 mm), coil pitches (26; 44 mm) and wire diameters (1.5; 2 mm). The study differs from other publications as regards the conditions under which the experiment was conducted. It focuses on the boiling process in two long vertical tube sections (2 m), paired in an in-line arrangement. The study was conducted within a moderate range of mass flux densities 80–240 kgm−2s−1 and at low heat flux densities 5–11 kWm−2, corresponding to the operating conditions of air coolers. The study examined the influence of vapour quality, mass flux density, geometrical parameters of the inserts and the impact of temperature glide on heat transfer coefficient and flow resistance increases as compared with a plain tube. The obtained increase ratios of heat transfer coefficients amounted to 1.1-1.7 for an azeotropic agent and to 1.1-1.3 for zeotropic agents, with the relative increase in flow resistances amounting to 1.8-4.5. New equations are proposed in the paper for the calculation of heat transfer coefficient and flow resistance values for boiling inside vertical tubes with spiral inserts.