Comparison of 30 Boiling and Condensation Correlations for Two-Phase Flows in Compact Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers

Author(s):  
Wenhai Li ◽  
Ken Alabi ◽  
Foluso Ladeinde

Over the years, empirical correlations have been developed for predicting saturated flow boiling [1–15] and condensation [16–30] heat transfer coefficients inside horizontal/vertical tubes or micro-channels. In the present work, we have examined 30 of these models, and modified many of them for use in compact plate-fin heat exchangers. However, the various correlations, which have been developed for pipes and ducts, have been modified in our work to make them applicable to extended fin surfaces. The various correlations have been used in a low-order, one-dimensional, finite-volume type numerical integration of the flow and heat transfer equations in heat exchangers. The NIST’s REFPROP database [31] is used to account for the large variations in the fluid thermo-physical properties during phase change. The numerical results are compared with Yara’s experimental data [32]. The validity of the various boiling and condensation models for a real plate-fin heat exchanger design is discussed. The results show that some of the modified boiling and condensation correlations can provide acceptable prediction of heat transfer coefficient for two-phase flows in compact plate-fin heat exchangers.

Author(s):  
Devin Pellicone ◽  
Alfonso Ortega ◽  
Marcelo del Valle ◽  
Steven Schon

Advances in concentrating photovoltaics technology have generated a need for more effective thermal management techniques. Research in photovoltaics has shown that there is a more than 50% decrease in PV cell efficiency when operating temperatures approach 60°C. It is estimated that a waste heat load in excess of 500 W/cm2 will need to be dissipated at a solar concentration of 10,000 suns. Mini- and micro-scale heat exchangers provide the means for large heat transfer coefficients with single phase flow due to the inverse proportionality of Nusselt number with respect to the hydraulic diameter. For very high heat flux situations, single phase forced convection in micro-channels may not be sufficient and hence convective flow boiling in small scale heat exchangers has gained wider scrutiny due to the much higher achievable heat transfer coefficients due to latent heat of vaporization and convective boiling. The purpose of this investigation is to explore a practical and accurate modeling approach for simulating multiphase flow and heat transfer in mini- and micro-channel heat exchangers. The work is specifically aimed at providing a modeling tool to assist in the design of a mini/micro-scale stacked heat exchanger to operate in the boiling regime. The flow side energy and momentum equations have been implemented using a one-dimensional homogeneous approach, with local heat transfer coefficients and friction factors supplied by literature correlations. The channel flow solver has been implemented in MATLAB™ and embedded within the COMSOL™ FEM solver which is used to model the solid side conduction problem. The COMSOL environment allows for parameterization of design variables leading to a fully customizable model of a two-phase heat exchanger.


Author(s):  
Cheol Huh ◽  
Moo Hwan Kim

With a single microchannel and a series of microheaters made with MEMS technique, two-phase pressure drop and local flow boiling heat transfer were investigated using deionized water in a single horizontal rectangular microchannel. The test microchannel has a hydraulic diameter of 100 μm and length of 40 mm. A real time observation of the flow patterns with simultaneous measurement are made possible. Tests are performed for mass fluxes of 90, 169, and 267 kg/m2s and heat fluxes of from 100 to 600 kW/m2. The experimental local flow boiling heat transfer coefficients and two-phase frictional pressure gradient are evaluated and the effects of heat flux, mass flux, and vapor qualities on flow boiling are studied. Both the evaluated experimental data are compared with existing correlations. The experimental heat transfer coefficients are nearly independent on mass flux and the vapor quality. Most of all correlations do not provide reliable heat transfer coefficients predictions with vapor quality and prediction accuracy. As for two-phase pressure drop, the measured pressure drop increases with the mass flux and heat flux. Most of all existing correlations of two-phase frictional pressure gradient do not predict the experimental data except some limited conditions.


Author(s):  
Haruhiko Ohta ◽  
Koichi Inoue ◽  
Yuichiro Shimada

Flow boiling heat transfer in a single small tube is investigated by using FC72 as a working fluid. The heat transfer coefficients are measured in the ranges of heat flux 2–24kW/m2 and mass velocity 100–400kg/m2s under the condition of near atmospheric pressure. Test tube, made of stainless steel, has an inner diameter of 0.51mm and a heated length of 200mm. The tube is located horizontally in a vacuum chamber to reduce the heat loss and to minimize the time to obtain data regarded as that of steady state. In the single-phase region, heat transfer coefficients due to forced convection are in good agreement with the values from the conventional theories. In the saturated region, measured heat transfer characteristics are quite different depending on whether the test liquid is deaerated or not deaerated before the experiments. By using deaerated liquid, three different heat transfer regimes are observed: In the first regime, the heat transfer is dominated by nucleate boiling in low vapor quality, and the heat transfer is deteriorated or enhanced depending on the channel confinement and heat flux. In the second regime, the heat transfer is dominated by two-phase forced convection in moderate quality as is well known for the tubes of normal size. In the third regime, the heat transfer is dominated again by two-phase forced convection, but is deteriorated in high quality. One or two regimes can disappear or become unclear depending on the conditions of flow and heating. The effects of vapor quality and mass velocity on the heat transfer characteristics due to two-phase forced convection in the moderate vapor quality are clarified in the experimental ranges tested. And a reason for the gradual heat transfer deterioration observed in high quality is discussed based on the liquid-vapor behaviors inherent in small diameter tubes.


Author(s):  
Youngbae Han ◽  
Naoki Shikazono ◽  
Nobuhide Kasagi

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 624-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Korniliou ◽  
Coinneach Mackenzie-Dover ◽  
John R.E. Christy ◽  
Souad Harmand ◽  
Anthony J. Walton ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Kathleen H. Peters ◽  
Francis A. Kulacki

Experiments are reported on convective boiling of water in a system of parallel micro-channels with a constant wall heat flux and highly sub-cooled inlet flow. The test section comprises a nickel plate containing ∼388 micro-channels along the center-plane with a mean hydraulic diameter of 145 μm with and a mean separation of 35 μm. The data set spans wall heat fluxes from 94 to 152 kW/m2, 8 < G < 24 kg/m2-s, and 2 < Re < 40. These parameters produce Weber, capillary and boiling numbers one to two orders of magnitude below those of the current published database. Overall heat transfer coefficients in flow boiling are estimated in the range 65 to 325 kW/m2-K. The present experiments more nearly emulate conditions for practical micro-channel heat exchangers compared to those of reported studies using artificially induced two-phase flows and either one or several micro-channels.


Author(s):  
Alexey Vasilievich Ezhov ◽  
Sergey Sergeevich Ivanov ◽  
Aleksandr Bukin ◽  
Vladimir Grigorievich Bukin

The paper presents the results of an experimental study of the effect of oil on the heat transfer rate at boiling of mixed refrigerant R406A. Since the air conditioning system is not a pure refrigerant, but a mixture of oil with a concentration of up to 8%, such an amount of oil affects both hydrodynamics and heat exchange in the evaporators. The experimental work covers the entire range of regime parameters typical for these systems. There is shown the process of changing oil concentration in the pipe, as the working fluid boils, proving that most of the oil pipe does not impair the heat exchange in the course of two-phase flow boiling. Different modes of refrigerant R406A boiling dynamics have been defined, and each mode is given a quantitative assessment in terms of the effects of the oil and explaining of this effect on the fluid flow and heat transfer based on visual observations and the experiment results. The main factor of the effect is the freon-oil foam, which increases the proportion of the wetted surface in the wave and stratified modes and the heat transfer rate to 30%. A comparison of the heat transfer coefficients both in the cross section and along the pipe length has been performed, showing that the maximum change in heat transfer occurs in the upper part of the surface due to developing a dry wall on it and wetting it with freon-oil foam. A comparison of the heat transfer rate of pure refrigerant R406A has been done; the presence of oil in it shows that the effect of oil is complex and ambiguous. Calculation and criterion dependences for calculation of heat transfer coefficients in different modes have been proposed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saptarshi Basu ◽  
Sidy Ndao ◽  
Gregory J. Michna ◽  
Yoav Peles ◽  
Michael K. Jensen

An experimental study of two-phase heat transfer coefficients was carried out using R134a in uniformly heated horizontal circular microtubes with diameters from 0.50 mm to 1.60 mm over a range of mass fluxes, heat fluxes, saturation pressures, and vapor qualities. Heat transfer coefficients increased with increasing heat flux and saturation pressure but were independent of mass flux. The effects of vapor quality on heat transfer coefficients were less pronounced and varied depending on the quality. The data were compared with seven flow boiling correlations. None of the correlations predicted the experimental data very well, although they generally predicted the correct trends within limits of experimental error. A correlation was developed, which predicted the heat transfer coefficients with a mean average error of 29%. 80% of the data points were within the ±30% error limit.


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