Steady and transient forced convection heat transfer for water flowing in small tubes with exponentially increasing heat inputs

Abstract

Steady and transient heat transfer coefficients for water flowing in small tubes with exponentially increasing heat inputs were measured. Platinum tubes with inner diameters of 1.0 and 2.0 mm were used as test tubes, which were mounted vertically in the experimental water loop. In the experiment, the upward flow velocity ranged from 2 to 16 m/s, and the corresponding Reynolds numbers ranged from 4.77 × 103 to 9.16 × 104 at the inlet liquid temperatures ranged from 298 to 343 K. The heat generation rate exponentially increased with the function. The period of the heat generation rate ranged from 24 ms to 17.5 s. Experimental results indicate that steady heat transfer coefficients decreased with the increase in the inner diameter of the small tube. Moreover, the ratio of bulk viscosity to near-wall viscosity of water increased with the rise in surface temperature of the vertical tube. From the experimental data, correlations of steady-state heat transfer for inner diameters of 1.0 and 2.0 mm were obtained. The heat transfer coefficient increased with decreasing the period of the heat generation rate as the flow velocity decreased. Moreover, the Nusselt number under the transient condition was affected by the Fourier number and the Reynolds number.