Study of Condensation Flow Patterns and Heat Transfer Characteristic on a Horizontal Tube Bundle

Abstract

The numerous studies on condensation flow patterns and heat transfer were focused on the horizontal inside single tube. A number of heat and mass transfer correlations are used for design of shellside condensers based on tubeside condensation flow regimes. Due to a complex geometry and measurement difficulty in a tube bundle, there are few publications reported on shellside condensation flow regime and heat transfer characteristics. To investigate the condensation flow patterns and heat and mass transfer mechanism at the different flow regimes, a horizontal shellside condenser was tested from a multipurpose condensation rig recently. The horizontal test bundle is made of 36 tubes with the staggered tube layout. The tube OD is 19 mm and the tube length is 1.0 m using stainless steel. Four visualization windows were placed on the front and back sides on the shell for photographing condensation flow patterns. Steam and steam/air mixture were used as the test fluids. The condensation flow patterns, condensate film thickness and droplets distribution were recorded using a high-speed digital camera at a wide range of condensation process conditions. The experimental data show that the condensation flow regime changes from the shear-controlled flow to gravity-controlled flow depending on the vapor and condensate loads, bundle location and the concentration of the non-condensable gas. These experimental data provide a fundamental approach for developing the heat and mass transfer correlateons at different shellside condensation patterns. This paper presents the experimental result on shellside condensation patterns associated with heat transfer characteristics.