Steady state heat transfer of helium cooled cable bundles

Abstract

In the present study nucleate and film boiling heat transfer characteristicsof horizontal conductor bundles are investigated at steady state conditions. The effect of gaps between wires, number of wires, wire position, wire size and bundle orientation on the departure from nucleate boling and transition to film boiling is studied. For gaps close to the bubble departure diameter, the critical heat flux can approach up to 90% of the single wire value. Consequently, the maximum stable current for a given bundle can be significantly increased above the single conductor value for the same cross-sectional area.