Numerical Modeling of Film Condensation in Horizontal Mini- and Macrocircular Tubes

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun-De Li
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Numerical Differentiation ◽  
Vapor Condensation ◽  
High Order ◽  
Film Condensation ◽  
Thickness Variation ◽  
Condenser Tube ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients

A partial differential–integral equation has been derived to connect vapor condensation and the development of condensate film thickness in both the tangential and axial directions in a horizontal circular condenser tube. A high-order explicit numerical scheme is used to solve the strongly nonlinear equation. A simple strategy is applied to avoid possible large errors from high-order numerical differentiation when the condensate becomes stratified. A set of empirical friction factor and Nusselt number correlations covering both laminar and turbulent film condensation have been incorporated to realistically predict film thickness variation and concurrently allow for the predictions of local heat transfer coefficients. The predicted heat-transfer coefficients of film condensation for refrigerant R134a and water vapor in horizontal circular mini- and macrotubes, respectively, have been compared with the results from experiments and the results from the simulations of film condensation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and very good agreements have been found. Some of the predicted film condensations are well into the strong stratification regime, and the results show that, in general, the condensate is close to annular near the inlet of the condenser tube and becomes gradually stratified as the condensate travels further away from the inlet for all the simulated conditions. The results also show that the condensate in the minitubes becomes stratified much earlier than that in the macrotubes.

scholarly journals Condensation inside smooth horizontal tubes: Part 1. Survey of the methods of heat-exchange prediction

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1769-1789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Rifert ◽  
Volodymyr Sereda
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Exchange ◽  
Local Heat Transfer ◽  
Local Heat ◽  
Film Condensation ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Horizontal Tubes

Survey of the works on condensation inside smooth horizontal tubes published from 1955 to 2013 has been performed. Theoretical and experimental investigations, as well as more than 25 methods and correlations for heat transfer prediction are considered. It is shown that accuracy of this prediction depends on the accuracy of volumetric vapor content and pressure drop at the interphase. The necessity of new studies concerning both local heat transfer coefficients and film condensation along tube perimeter and length under annular, stratified and intermediate regimes of phase flow was substantiated. These characteristics being defined will allow determining more precisely the boundaries of the flow regimes and the methods of heat transfer prediction.

Diffusion Layer Theory for Turbulent Vapor Condensation With Noncondensable Gases

1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 998-1003 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. F. Peterson ◽  
V. E. Schrock ◽  
T. Kageyama
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Vapor Condensation ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Noncondensable Gas ◽  
Noncondensable Gases ◽  
Vertical Tubes

In turbulent condensation with noncondensable gas, a thin noncondensable layer accumulates and generates a diffusional resistance to condensation and sensible heat transfer. By expressing the driving potential for mass transfer as a difference in saturation temperatures and using appropriate thermodynamic relationships, here an effective “condensation” thermal conductivity is derived. With this formulation, experimental results for vertical tubes and plates demonstrate that condensation obeys the heat and mass transfer analogy, when condensation and sensible heat transfer are considered simultaneously. The sum of the condensation and sensible heat transfer coefficients becomes infinite at small gas concentrations, and approaches the sensible heat transfer coefficient at large concentrations. The “condensation” thermal conductivity is easily applied to engineering analysis, and the theory further demonstrates that condensation on large vertical surfaces is independent of the surface height.

The Effect of Liquid Film Evaporation on Flow Boiling Heat Transfer in a Micro Tube

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youngbae Han ◽  
Naoki Shikazono ◽  
Nobuhide Kasagi
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Liquid Film ◽  
Flow Boiling ◽  
Liquid Film Thickness ◽  
Periodic Pattern ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Micro Channels ◽  
Measured Liquid

Flow boiling in micro channels is attracting large attention since it leads to large heat transfer area per unit volume. Generated vapor bubbles in micro channels are elongated due to the restriction of channel wall, and thus slug flow becomes one of the main flow regimes. In slug flow, sequential bubbles are confined by the liquid slugs, and thin liquid film is formed between tube wall and bubble. Liquid film evaporation is one of the main heat transfer mechanisms in micro channels and liquid film thickness is a very important parameter to determine heat transfer coefficient. In the present study, liquid film thickness is measured under flow boiling condition and compared with the correlation proposed under adiabatic condition. The relationship between liquid film thickness and heat transfer coefficient is also investigated. Pyrex glass tube with inner diameter of D = 0.5 mm is used as a test tube. Working fluids are water and ethanol. Laser focus displacement meter is used to measure the liquid film thickness. Initial liquid film thickness under flow boiling condition can be predicted well by the correlation proposed under adiabatic condition. However, measured liquid film thickness becomes thinner than the predicted values in the cases of back flow and short slugs. These are considered to be due to the change of velocity profile in the liquid slug. Under flow boiling condition, liquid film profile fluctuates due to high vapor velocity and shows periodic pattern against time. Frequency of periodic pattern increases with heat flux. At low quality, heat transfer coefficients calculated from measured liquid film thickness show good accordance with heat transfer coefficients obtained directly from wall temperature measurements.

Design of an axially concave pad profile for a large turbine tilting-pad bearing

2016 ◽  
Vol 231 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Kukla ◽  
Nico Buchhorn ◽  
Beate Bender
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Tangential Direction ◽  
Measured Temperature ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Tilting Pad ◽  
Calculation Results

To improve operational safety and/or achieve a higher load capacity of turbine tilting-pad bearings, an axially concave pad profile is presented. The thermal and mechanical stress of the loaded pads of a test bearing in load between pivot configuration has been analysed. Both film thickness and pressure distribution have been measured at a very high resolution. A fluid film calculation program in combination with a finite-volume-based structural mechanics program is used to simulate the deformation of a single pad under high circumferential speeds. In this context, the axial and tangential heat transfer coefficients of the pad surface, which act as boundary conditions for the calculation of the 3D temperature distribution, are determined using an optimization process. Herein, the match of predicted and measured pad temperatures is the goal. It can be shown that there must be a huge difference in heat transfer in axial and tangential direction in order to match the large measured temperature gradient in circumferential direction. Based on the measured deformed profile the program code is used to derive a concave pad profile, which will result in an axially non-arched sliding surface under the expected thermal load. Therefore, an iterative simulation procedure is used. By decreasing the axial arching of the pad and thus the large film thickness at the axial ends using an improved profile designed for a specific operation point, the minimum film thickness and maximum pad temperature can be influenced beneficially. The comparison of measurement data and calculation results shows very good agreement regarding the pad deformations. The results indicate that by axially concave profiling of the loaded pads of a large tilting-pad bearing for a specific operation point, the static characteristics in the form of temperature, film thickness and load capacity can be improved.

The Effects of Wettability and Surface Morphology on Heat Transfer for Zinc Oxide Nanostructured Aluminum Surfaces

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire M. Kunkle ◽  
Jordan P. Mizerak ◽  
Van P. Carey
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Heat Transfer Performance ◽  
Nucleate Boiling ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Transfer Performance ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Wetted Area ◽  
Aluminum Surfaces

The development of hydrophilic surface coatings for enhanced wetting characteristics has led to improvement in heat transfer metrics like impinging droplet vaporization time and the heat transfer coefficient. Hydrothermal synthesis, a method of developing hydrophilic surfaces, has been previously shown to produce high performing heat transfer surfaces on copper substrates [1]. Our study applied this production method to aluminum substrates, which have the advantage of being cheaper, lighter, and a more widely used for heat sinks than copper. Previous experiments have shown that water droplets on ZnO nanostructure coated surfaces, at low superheats, evaporate via thin film evaporation rather than nucleate boiling. This leads to heat transfer coefficients as much as three times higher than nucleate boiling models for the same superheat. Our nanocoated aluminum surfaces exhibit superhydrophilicity with an average droplet liquid film thickness of 20–30 microns, which can produce heat transfer coefficients of over 25 kW/m2K. This study discusses characterization of ZnO nanostructured aluminum surfaces to better understand the related mechanisms which lead to such high heat transfer performance. All ZnO nanostructured aluminum surfaces produced for this study exhibited superhydrophilicity, with sessile droplet contact angles of less than 5 degrees. The challenge of achieving accuracy for such low contact angles led to the development of a new wetting metric related to the droplet’s wetted area on a surface rather than the contact angle. This new metric is predicated on the the fact that heat transfer performance is directly related to this wetted area, thickens, and shape of the expanding droplet footprint. Shape irregularity of droplets on these superhydrophilic surfaces is discussed in this study, where there appears to be advantages to irregular spreading compared with surfaces that produce symmetric radial spreading. One form of irregular spreading consists of liquid droplets spreading out both on top of the surface and within the microstructure of the surface coating. The liquid within the microstructure forms films less than 5 microns thick, making local heat transfer coefficients of greater than 100 kW/m2K possible. SEM microscope imaging provided additional insight to the underlying mechanisms which cause these surfaces to produce such exceptional spreading as well as irregular spreading, resulting in very good heat transfer performance. Experimental work was coupled with computational analysis to model the contact line of the droplet footprint. Image processing of experimental photos helps to analyze spreading characteristics, which can be directly related to heat transfer due to film thickness at various points during spreading. Approaches used to characterize these superhydrophilic surfaces advance understanding of the connections between nanoscale structural elements and macroscale performance characteristics in heat transfer. This understanding can reveal key insights for developing even better high performance surfaces for a broad range of applications.

Analysis of Stagnant Non Condensable Gases Effects on Condensation Heat Transfer in a Vertical Tube

2011 ◽  
Vol 148-149 ◽  
pp. 491-495
Author(s):  
Jun Xia Zhang ◽  
Zeng Sheng Li ◽  
Bin Yao Gong ◽  
Hong Xing Zhao ◽  
Yu Huai Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Vertical Tube ◽  
Condensation Heat Transfer ◽  
Condenser Tube ◽  
Condensation Rate ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Velocity Pressure

In a vertical condenser tube installed at the cold end of a non-vacuum separate type heat pipe, non condensable (NC) gases in the system is pushed by continuous vapor flowing from the hot end into the condenser tube at the cold end, gathering above condensate at the outlet of the condenser tube. Therefore, condensation heat transfer of vapor with the stagnant NC gases occurs in the condenser tube. It is necessary to comprehend the effects of stagnant NC gases on condensation heat transfer. A VOF method was adopted to analyze how stagnant NC gases affect condensation heat transfer, a mass fraction equation of NC gases was used to solve diffusion between NC gases and vapor, a Hertz-Knudsen-Schrage model was applied to deal with condensation rate of vapor on the surface of liquid film. Parameters, including volume fraction, velocity, pressure, mass fraction of NC gases and condensation heat transfer coefficients (HTC), were obtained. Results show that a lot of NC gases deposits in the condenser tube rear, leading a lot of vapor to condense at the condenser tube front. NC gases slightly affect condensation HTC of the tube front, and severely degrade condensation HTC of the tube rear. Furthermore, an increase in mass of NC gases causes a rise in pressure and velocity, improving condensation heat transfer.

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