Interplay of fluids mixing and heat transfer in a dual-loop ORC direct contact heat exchanger used for waste heat utilization

Abstract

By bringing two immiscible fluids at different temperatures into a direct contact heat exchanger (DCHE), bubble swarms are produced in the dual-loop ORC direct contact boiling heat transfer process. The aim of this paper is to make effort to explore the interplay between mixing state quality and heat transfer performance of fluids in the DCHE. Through flow visualization of this mixing process, a simple image analysis technique is introduced to represent the formation and evolution of vapor around the injected coolant droplets. Description of the boiling heat transfer process is here achieved by average volumetric heat transfer coefficient (VHTC). Experimental results attest that the proposed mixing index is powerful and sufficient compared with the Betti numbers method for the mixing quality quantification of bubbles inside DCHE. The synergistic association between the fluids mixing process and the heat transfer process is investigated by statistical regression model of new mixing index and VHTC. The contributions, including the data from monitoring practice in ORC heat transfer system and the proposed way, are presented to delve into the transient behaviors comparison of various fluids mixing and heat transfer processes conveniently.