Heat Transfer to Falling Water Film on a Vertical Surface

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

An experimental study was performed on the heat transfer to a turbulent water film which is falling down the outside surface of a heated vertical tube. The test section was made of stainless steel tube 13 mm in outside diameter and 1,500 mm long. It was found that a nearly constant heat transfer coefficient was obtained for the lower half of the test section covering a length of about 1 m, which was direct-heated by electric current. The resulting values of the Nusselt number in this region were correlated to the Reynolds number, and the plots fell in a region intermediate between those given by Wilke and by McAdams. An analytical model taking account of the undulation on the film surface is proposed. The predictions from the model give fairly good agreement with the experimental data.