Heat Transfer to Mercury Flowing In-Line Through a Bundle of Circular Rods

Abstract

Experimental results were obtained for the case of in-line flow of mercury through an unbaffled bundle of circular rods, and they were compared with theoretical predictions. The bundle consisted of 13 one-half-in-dia rods arranged in an equilateral triangular pattern, the pitch:diameter ratio being 1.750. Measurements were taken only on the central rod. Six different rods were tested. All rods in the bundle were electrically heated to provide equal and uniform heat fluxes throughout the bundle. The rods were of the Calrod type. The test rods had copper sheaths with fine thermocouples imbedded below the surface for measuring surface temperatures. Some rods were plated with a layer of nickel, followed by a very thin layer of copper, to provide “wetting” conditions, while others were chromeplated to provide “nonwetting” conditions. Heat-transfer coefficients were obtained under the following conditions: (a) Prandtl number, 0.02; (b) Reynolds number range, 7500 to 200,000; (c) Peclet number range, 150 to 4000; (d) “Wetting” versus “nonwetting”; (e) Both transition and fully established flow; (f) Variation of Lf/De ratio from 4 to 46. The precision of the results is estimated to be within 2 to 3 percent. An interesting finding, consistent with earlier predictions, was that the Nusselt number, under fully established turbulent-flow conditions, remained essentially constant, at the lower end of the turbulent flow regime, until a Reynolds number of about 40,000 was reached.