Studies on Influence of Chromium Layer on Inner Surface of Steel Tube on Heat Transfer

Abstract

This paper presents the results of numerical calculations of heat transfer in the steel wall of a tube with different chromium layer thicknesses on the inner surface for a single and a sequence of heat impulses. In modeling the thermal phenomenon, the tube material was assumed to be homogeneous, and the inner surface of the tube had a protective chromium layer. The calculations were performed for temperature-dependent parameters of the 30HN2MFA steel and chromium. The tube was divided into 30 zones. The time varying the heat transfer coefficient and the heat flux density on the inner surface of the tube in each zone were calculated. The numerical simulations of heat transfer in the tube wall were performed using the FEM implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics software. On account of the high thermal conductivity of chromium, after the first and subsequent heat impulses, as the thickness of the chrome layer increases, the highest peak temperature drops, while the temperature inside the steel wall of the tube increases. After the first heat impulse, the temperature of the wall at a depth 0.5 mm below the inner surface is twice as high for a tube with a 200 µm thick chrome coating compared to a tube without this coating. This paper showed that, after seven heat impulses, the temperature of the steel tube substrate does not exceed 750 °C, at which the shrinkage of the material occurs, causing cracks in the chrome coating.