Precise determination of inundation effect coefficient of film condensation on an array of horizontal new three-dimensional finned tube

Abstract

To accurately evaluate the condensation heat transfer performance of new 3D finned tubes in shell-and-tube condenser, the inundation effect of the film condensation of R-134a on an array of 6 horizontal new 3D (three-dimensional) finned tubes is experimentally investigated with a new experiment method of homologous method. And the precise inundation effect coefficient of film condensation is determined. A novel test facility, whose test section contains two arrays of 8 horizontal tubes to realize the homologous method, is developed and constructed. The outer diameter of the tube and effective tube length in the test section are 19.05 and 500 mm, respectively. The condensation heat transfer coefficient of new 3D finned tube and inundation effect coefficient of new 3D finned tube bundle are determined under different conditions. The results show that the inundation effect coefficient of new 3D finned tube bundle decreases from 1.00 to 0.78 as Re increases from 75 to 1860. And the effect of heat flux on the inundation effect is more sensitive than the condensing temperature. Furthermore, for new 3D finned tube, the condensation heat transfer and inundation effect models are established, and the deviations of results between experiment and models are almost within ±6.0%. In comparison with literatures, the average inundation effect coefficient of new 3D finned tube bundle is 10.0-25.0% higher than that of 3D finned tube bundle in literatures, within 3.0% lower than that of two-dimensional finned tube bundle, and 15.2% higher than that of plain tube bundle. And the average condensation heat transfer coefficient of new 3D finned tube bundle in this article is 5.0-25.0% higher than that of 3D finned tube bundle in literatures, 10.0-30.0% higher than that of 2D finned tube bundle, and more than 10 times that of plain tube bundle. The precise inundation effect coefficients can be used as benchmark data to build precise and universal inundation effect model of 3D finned tube, and the models established in this study will help guide the thermal design of the new 3D finned tube applied in shell-and-tube condenser.