Local Condensation Heat Transfer Research Articles

Measurement of local condensation heat transfer coefficient (HTC) within a brazed plate heat exchanger (BPHE) and heat transfer assessment of low-GWP R134a replacements

This paper presents local condensation Heat Transfer Coefficients (HTCs) and temperature profiles of R134a and three low-GWP replacements, R1234yf, R1234ze(E), and R152a, within Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers (BPHEs). The measurement of local temperature profiles allows to couple the evaluation of thermal and hydraulic performances of refrigerants into a single parameter named Total Temperature Penalty (TTP). The experimentation was carried out in a prototype BPHE instrumented with thermocouples inserted into the plate wall to measure the local heat flux and wall temperature. The transition from gravity-controlled condensation to mixed condensation was observed in the refrigerant mass velocity interval 15−20 kg m−2s−1. The experimental HTCs were compared with existing theoretical models finding a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) within 10–15 %. The TTP analysis highlights similar condensation performance for R134a, R1234yf and R1234ze(E) refrigerants, while R152a performs better than R134a.

Numerical simulation on the condensation heat transfer and flow characteristics outside smooth and enhanced tubes

Most of the current studies only conducts two-dimensional simulations of condensation heat transfer and flow outside enhanced tubes, which cannot accurately reflect the flow and heat transfer characteristics of liquid film outside enhanced tubes. In order to provide theoretical support for the design optimization of enhanced tubes, this study adopts the VOF multiphase model and Lee condensation model to simulate the condensation heat transfer(HTC) of refrigerants outside smooth and enhanced tubes. The instantaneous film flow characteristics of the liquid film outside the horizontal smooth and enhanced tubes are analyzed, and the thickness of the liquid film and the relationship with the condensation heat transfer coefficient of the smooth and enhanced tubes under different working conditions are calculated. The refrigerants are compared under the same working conditions, and the results are shown: The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data and the Nusselt analytical solution, and the error is all within 15%; the distribution of liquid film is highly sensitive to the magnitude of local condensation heat transfer coefficients, and the condensation HTC outside the enhanced tube is approximately six times of that of smooth tube. Combining the distribution of the liquid film and the thermophysical properties of the refrigerants, it was determined that R410A has the highest HTC, while R1234yf has the lowest HTC.

Local condensation heat transfer analysis of three-component mixture refrigerant R455A in plate heat exchanger

Plate heat exchangers are gaining popularity as condensers for their compact design and high efficiency. However, the uneven fluid distribution in channels poses a challenge to effective heat transfer. Existing literature lacks experimental analysis of local heat transfer coefficients for pure and zeotropic mixture refrigerants in plate heat exchangers. This study experimentally analyzed the local heat transfer of the three-component zeotropic mixture R455A at various conditions (mass flux 20, 30, and 50 kg m−2 s−1 and saturation temperatures 30 and 35 °C). Results show that the heat transfer coefficient increases with flow rates and decreases with saturation temperature. However, results indicated lower heat transfer coefficients compared to pure refrigerants due to mixture effects. In addition, the local distribution of the heat transfer coefficient revealed that the heat transfer coefficient is highest at the center compared to the edges of the channel due uneven distribution of refrigerants within the channel. This HTC pattern confirms an asymmetrical flow within the plate. A new correlation is being developed to predict the heat transfer coefficient of the ternary mixture, showing improved accuracy than previously proposed correlations.

NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONOF STEAM FILM CONDENSATION ON A VERTICAL TUBE

NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONOF STEAM FILM CONDENSATION ON A VERTICAL TUBE

Experimental Analysis of Local Condensation Heat Transfer Characteristics of CF3I Inside a Plate Heat Exchanger

Due to its low global warming potential (GWP) and good environmental properties, CF3I can be a suitable component of refrigerant mixtures in the field of refrigeration and air conditioning. In this work, the local condensation heat transfer characteristics of CF3I were experimentally investigated in a plate heat exchanger (PHE). The condensation heat transfer experiments were carried out under conditions of vapor qualities from 1.0 to 0.0, at saturation temperatures of 25–30 °C, mass fluxes of 20–50 kg/m2s, and heat fluxes of 10.4–13.7 kW/m2. Local heat transfer coefficients were found to vary in both the horizontal and vertical directions of the plate heat exchanger showing similar trends in all mass fluxes. In addition, the characteristics of local heat flux and wall temperature distribution as a function of distance from the inlet to the outlet of the refrigerant channel were explored in detail. The comparison of the experimental data of CF3I with that of R1234yf in the same test facility showed that the heat transfer coefficients of CF3I were comparable to R1234yf at a low vapor quality and a mass flux of 20 kg/m2s. However, R1234yf exhibited a transfer coefficient about 1.5 times higher at all vapor qualities and a mass flux of 50 kg/m2s. The newly developed correlation predicts well the experimentally obtained data for both CF3I and R1234yf within ±30%.

Ammonia void fraction in smooth tubes at different gravity orientation

Ammonia is an environment-friendly natural refrigerant and working fluid with negligible global warming and ozone depletion. Nowadays, ammonia is widely used in industrial refrigeration systems, heat pumps and thermal control systems, including heat pipes, loop heat pipes and two-phase mechanically pumped loops. In perspective, “green” ammonia is considered an energy carrier and carbon-free fuel. In two-phase systems, the void fraction is one of the critical factors determining the frictional and local pressure losses, boiling and condensation heat transfer and phase separation. The experimental study of ammonia void fraction in tubes with inner diameters of 8.5 mm and 15 mm is proposed in this paper. The quick-closing valve method has been chosen. Three flow configurations are considered: vertical downward, vertical upward and horizontal. The tests were provided for the two-phase ammonia at a mass velocity of 50…500 kg·m−2s−1, saturation pressure of 15…30 bar, and vapour quality of 0.05…0.30. One hundred and five points have been tested. No existing single correlation predicts the ammonia void fraction well at the considered boundary conditions for at least two orientations in the gravity field. A new single correlation has been proposed based on the Rouhani drift model with the tube inclination angle-dependent distribution parameter allowing the adequate prediction of void fraction in a tube with ammonia flow at horizontal, upward and downward orientations.

Flue Gas Condensation in a Model of the Heat Exchanger: The Effect of the Cooling Water Flow Rate and Its Temperature on Local Heat Transfer

In boiler houses, the biggest heat energy losses are caused by flue gas being released into the atmosphere. Installation of condensing heat exchangers allows reducing the temperature of the flue gas being released, condensation of water vapor, and, thus, efficient use of the waste heat. There are many investigations of average heat transfer in different types of condensing heat exchangers. They indicate also that the cooling water flow rate and its temperature are important parameters defining water vapor condensation efficiency. Investigations of local condensation heat transfer in condensing heat exchangers are very limited. Only recently experimental investigations of the flue gas temperature and Re number effect on local condensation heat transfer in the model of the condensing heat exchanger at a constant cooling water flow rate and its temperature have started being published. In this paper, for the first time, detailed experimental investigations of the cooling water flow rate and its temperature effect on local condensation heat transfer of the water vapor from the flue gas in the model of the condensing heat exchanger (long vertical tube) are presented. The results revealed that at higher flue gas Rein, the effect of the cooling water flow rate and its temperature has a stronger impact on local heat transfer distribution along the test section.

Steam entrainment and heat transfer characteristic of steam submerged jet condensation within steam-water mixture layer

Steam-water interface and mixture layer are the key window for understanding the heat and mass transfer mechanism of steam submerged jet condensation. In this paper, the steam-water two-phase mixture layer is captured and the interfacial vortex is observed with a quasi-two-dimensional submerged steam jet visualization experimental platform. Then, the volume heat transfer capacity of steam-water mixture layer and heat transfer coefficient with steam-water inner interface are obtained. Furthermore, a new turbulent eddy entrainment model is developed to calculate the local entrainment mass rate and local condensation heat transfer coefficient. Both the local entrainment mass rate and local condensation heat transfer coefficient increases along steam jet direction, and reaches the maximum value at the tail of the mixture layer. The calculated condensation heat transfer coefficient ranges from 0.88 to 2.94 MW·m−2·K−1, which is about the half of the value of hypothetical heat transfer coefficient with inner interfacial area.

Experimental Investigation of Coolant Side Characteristic on the Performance of Air-Cooled Condenser Structured by Horizontal Flattened Tube

The steam condensation process has been experimentally investigated in an air-cooled condenser (ACC). The ACC has been designed and built using a flattened cross-section horizontal tube. The flattened tube has an internal dimension of 102 mm x 12 mm with 4030 mm length. A range of vacuum operating conditions are applied to operate the ACC. In the experiments, parameters such as vacuum pressure, saturated temperature, wall tube temperature, rate of heat transfer, and local average steam heat transfer coefficient have been considered along the flow direction with the variation of cooling water temperature. The experimental results revealed that the steam saturated temperature and the related pressure decrease with the reduction of the cooling water temperature, and the temperatures of the upper and lower parts of the horizontal flattened tube. The results also showed that the local steam condensation heat transfer coefficient decreases along with the direction of the flow, but it there is incrementing with the decreasing of saturated steam temperature at a certain range of cooling water temperature.

Thermal-hydraulic test facility for nuclear reactor containment: Engineering design methodology and benchmarking

The paper describes detailed thermal and mechanical design procedure of a CONtrolled FLOw (CONFLO) facility and a complimentary Thermal HYdraulic test facility for CONtainment (THYCON), to investigate the post-severe accident scenarios in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) containments, involving condensation of steam in the presence of non-condensable gases (NCGs), such as air and hydrogen/helium. The former setup allows the study of flow condensation of steam on flat surfaces kept inside a rectangular flow section of 250 mm × 200 mm, under different inlet conditions of mixture concentration, pressure and temperature. The latter is a large cylindrical chamber of total height = 3.6 m and diameter = 0.96 m (vessel volume of 2.7 m3), mimicking a containment, wherein steam condensation and mixing transport of non-condensable gases can be experimentally simulated, as per conditions close to accident scenarios. Parameters of interest are local and average condensation heat transfer coefficient, NCG concentrations, flow Reynolds number, volumetric Richardson number, operating gas/vapour pressure, temperature and inclination angle of condensing surfaces. After due benchmarking of both the setups, the generated experimental data is being used for developing the design equation(s) to model steam condensation in containment environments and for suggesting locations for condensers and passive autocatalytic recombiners essential for containment safety. Ongoing experiments are also providing data for the validation of computer codes. The thermal-hydraulic experiments suggest that the condensation heat transfer inside NPP containments is primarily governed by several interlinked phenomena, such as stratification, mixing, turbulence and condensation.

Experimental investigation of the two-phase local heat transfer coefficients for condensation of R134a in a micro-structured plate heat exchanger

Plate heat exchangers are widely used for two-phase heat transfer in the industrial applications, and recently more attention has been paid to the plate heat exchangers with enhanced surface due to their better heat transfer performance. In this paper, the local condensation heat transfer coefficients are studied using R134a in a micro-structured plate heat exchanger. In order to obtain a more accurate prediction model, a series of measurements are conducted under various operating conditions. The mass flux of R134a varied from 47 kg/m2s to 77 kg/m2s, the saturation pressure in the condenser ranged from 6.32 bar to 8.95 bar, and the value of the heat flux was between 13 kW/m2 and 22 kW/m2. The local two-phase Nusselt number increases with the increase of the mass flux. As the saturation pressure increases, the local two-phase Nusselt number increase at the beginning of the condensation and decrease at the end of the condensation. However, the effect of heat flux on local heat transfer is irregular, due to the interaction of these parameters in the experiment. Comparing with the unstructured plate heat exchanger, R134a condenses faster at the beginning of the process in the micro-sturctured plate heat exchanger, and the local heat transfer performs better when the vapor quality is lower. Combing with the phenomenon that the overall heat flux in micro-structured plate is larger under the same working conditions, it shows that the overall heat transfer of the micro-structured plate is improved, but the local heat transfer uprades only at lower vapor qualities. A new correlation is developed, it predicts all the experimental data within the root mean square error 10%, and a new correlation for the waterside is suggested as well.

PREDICTING OF STEAM CONDENSATION HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT IN HORIZONTAL FLATTENED TUBE

The heat transfer coefficient of steam condensation has a significant role in the performance of air-cooled heat exchangers. The purpose of this work is to predict the local/average local steam condensation heat transfer coefficient inside the horizontal flattened tube under vacuum conditions using numerous correlations that were developed by some researches which have been conducted under specified conditions. The results from these correlations have been compared with experimental data of Davies, therefore more investigate for the values are necessary to improve or/and validate the existing correlations. The effect of such parameters like the uniform heat flux and saturation temperature also have been studied on the local steam condensation heat transfer coefficient as the results show that the heat transfer coefficient decrease as the heat flux increase, while it increases as the steam saturated temperature increase.

Computational investigation of annular flow condensation in microgravity with two-phase inlet conditions

Condensation heat exchangers contribute significantly to the size of the thermal management system, and their implementation in future spacecraft will require a better understanding of the underlying heat transfer phenomena. In this study, we computationally investigate flow condensation in microgravity with two-phase inlet conditions utilizing the VOF multi-phase model and a 2-dimensional axisymmetric domain. The model is validated utilizing experiments from prior microgravity flow condensation tests conducted onboard a parabolic flight. A control-volume-based theoretical model is utilized to estimate the inlet vapor fraction and inlet phase velocity boundary conditions. The computational model predicts complex flow behavior occurring at the two-phase interface during condensation, but the model suffers from some liquid accumulation in the vapor region. Local condensation heat transfer is under-estimated in the inlet section, and over-estimated in the exit section, compared with the experimental measurements. Mean condensation heat transfer coefficients compare well to experiments. Results show a need for full 3D simulations of flow condensation to improve predictions of liquid entrainment and liquid deposition phenomena that significantly influence local heat transfer coefficients predictions

Diverging/converging small channel for condensation heat transfer enhancement under different gravity conditions

Diverging-shaped small channel is considered analytically aiming to further enhance condensation heat transfer inside channels. To fulfill heat dissipation requirements under varying-gravity conditions, effectiveness of the diverging small channel is also verified under different gravities. The refrigerant mass flow rate, total heat transfer area and thermal boundary conditions are fixed to investigate effect of channel shape. Smaller channel possesses better overall condensation performance, especially for small-gravity conditions. Diverging channel enhances local condensation heat transfer even with very small diverging angles. Overall condensation heat transfer becomes worse as diverging angle is relatively larger when channel size and gravity decrease. Converging-shaped small channel is therefore proposed and verified to effectively enhance the overall condensation heat transfer performance.

Experimental investigation on condensation heat transfer for bundle tube heat exchanger of the PCCS (Passive Containment Cooling System)

To provide a passive cooling system for the reactor containment, Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) was adopted in the design of i-POWER nuclear power plant. This study focused on validation tests for condensation heat transfer of the PCCS heat exchanger using the CLASSIC facility. The tests include investigation of the condensation heat transfer in prototypic single tube and bundle tubes. From the single tube experiments, condensation heat transfer model was proposed to reflect the PCCS heat exchanger tube geometry. Experimental results in the bundle tube show consistent trend compared to the proposed heat transfer model from the single tube test. The local condensation heat transfer coefficient of inside tubes was smaller than the average value due to a shadow effect by a larger mass fraction of non-condensable gas, so that design of the PCCS should take into account degradation of the condensation heat removal in the bundle geometry.

Experimental analysis of condensation heat transfer and frictional pressure drop in a horizontal circular mini channel

The present study aims to investigate the effect of working fluid, mass flux, vapour quality and saturation temperature on local condensation Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC) and local Frictional Pressure Drop (FPD) in a horizontal circular mini-channel. The refrigerants HFO-1234yf and HFC-R134a have been used as a working fluids. The mass flux was varied from 200 to 800 kg/m2 s whereas two distinct saturation temperatures were used: 35 °C and 40 °C. The experimental analysis was carried out using horizontal circular single port mini-channel of hydraulic diameter 1 mm. During experiment, inlet condition of refrigerant was maintained to be saturated vapour. The results show that HTC and FPD increases with increase in vapour quality and mass flux whereas decreases with increase in saturation temperature. The experiment results of present study and previously published results are compared with various predictive models. Models which show minimum deviation from experimental results were used to develop new modified model to predict HTC with MARD of ± 15 % and FPD with MARD of ± 10 %.

Steam condensation in horizontal and inclined tubes under stratified flow conditions

In this study, an experiment on condensation heat transfer was conducted to develop a condensation model considering the structure of separated flow patterns. Multidimensional local condensation heat transfer parameters were measured in pure saturated steam at pressures of 1–5 bar and mass fluxes of 10–50 kg/m2 s in an inclinable tube with an inner diameter of 40 mm and a length of 3 m. A heat partition angle, which separated the upper and lower heat transfer areas for film condensation and convective heat transfer in stratified flow, was obtained based on the inflection point of the circumferential distribution function of local heat flux. A new condensation heat transfer model consisting of the heat partition angle and heat transfer coefficient correlations was developed based on the local heat transfer data. The experimental data for model development were obtained using circular tubes with inner diameters of 30–45 mm and inclination angles of 0–10° under pure saturated steam conditions at pressures of 1–67 bar and mass fluxes of 10–329 kg/m2 s. The model predicted the average heat transfer coefficient with an average deviation of 6.2% against the present experimental data.

A numerical study on condensation flow and heat transfer of refrigerant in minichannels of printed circuit heat exchanger

Printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE), with the core comprising many mini/microchannels, have been extensively studied, but few works involved two-phase flow. A simplified channel model of PCHE hot side was herein established to numerically explore the heat transfer and condensation flow performance of R22 in minichannels under different conditions. The model was a semicircular minichannel with 0.91 mm hydraulic diameter and 50 mm full length. The heat flux was kept at −77,195 Wm−2, the inlet pressure was 0.63 MPa and the mass fluxes ranged from 58 to 93 kgm−2s−1. The condensation flow characteristics along the channel were analyzed. Four flow patterns, i.e., smooth-annular, wavy-annular, slug and bubbly, were noticed at different refrigerant mass fluxes and plotted as a flow pattern map. The effects of import vapor quality from 0.5 to 1 on pressure drop and heat transfer performance were evaluated. The heat transfer performance was optimal at the import vapor quality of 0.7. The impacts of refrigerant mass flux on pressure drop and local condensation heat transfer coefficient were assessed. Intermittent flow enhanced heat transfer. In addition, the correlations for local Nusselt number and Fanning friction factor were presented and compared with numerical data.

Interfacial wave behavior and its effect on the flow and condensation heat transfer in a microtube

The transient flow and condensation of R32 in a 0.1 mm microtube were simulated for mass fluxes of 100, 150 and 200 kg m−2 s−1. The model predicted three annular-to-intermittent flow pattern transitions as the mass flux increased that are characterized as injection, injection with wave coalescence, and wave coalescence. The annular flow interfacial waves are transient physical phenomena even though the boundary conditions are steady. The mechanism for their appearance, propagation and growth was investigated. The large interfacial waves squeeze and strongly accelerate the local vapor flow. Oscillations of the radial temperature and velocity gradients cause oscillations of the local heat flux and the wall shear stress in the wavy annular flow which increase the average heat flux and flow friction in the wavy annular flow region. Higher mass fluxes significantly increase the local wall shear stress due to the larger radial velocity gradient at the wall. The radial temperature gradient at the wall is nearly inversely proportional to the liquid film thickness which is independent of mass flux in annular flow, so the local heat fluxes are similar for the three mass flux. The higher mass fluxes weakly enhance the heat transfer in the bubbly and liquid flow region. A new correlation for the local condensation heat transfer in annular flow is proposed, and validated by the simulated data with high agreement.

Local convective condensation heat transfer in horizontal double-layer three-dimensional dimple-grooved tubes

An experimental study on local condensation heat transfer characteristics in two three-dimensional double-layer dimple-grooved tubes (2EHT tubes) and a smooth tube is performed using refrigerant of R410A. The smooth tube has an outer diameter of 12.7 mm and inner diameter of 11.07 mm. The 2EHT tubes have a nominal outer diameter of 12.7 mm and wall thickness of 0.8 mm. The enhanced surface areas of two 2EHT tubes are 1.02 and 1.03 times of the smooth tube, respectively. The present experiments are conducted to measure the local wall temperature when the mass flux ranges from 65 kg/(m2·s) to 210 kg/(m2·s), heat flux ranges from 10 kW/m2 to 35 kW/m2 and vapor quality ranges from 0.9 to 0.1. The saturation temperature is maintained at 40 °C. 248 experimental HTC data points are obtained and compared with six correlations. The results show that the measured local HTCs increase with increasing mass fluxes and decrease with increasing heat fluxes, and that the present correlations have a good predictability with smooth tube but cannot predict the HTC of 2EHT tubes. The proposed condensation correlation for 2EHT tubes is validated, and it predicts all experimental points within an error band of ±30%, and 94.25% of all test points within an error band of ±20%.