Inundation Effect and Its Elimination in Shell and Tube Condenser

Author(s):  
Zhixian Ma ◽  
Jili Zhang ◽  
Dexing Sun

Inundation effect, decrease of condensation heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) induced by both falling condensate from the neighboring tubes above and condensing condensate form the vapor, significantly affects the CHTC of tube bundles composed of smooth and enhanced tubes. This paper experimentally studied the inundation effect of smooth tube and three kinds of enhanced tubes (3D-A, 3D-B and 2D-A), put forward a scheme to eliminate the inundation effect caused by falling condensate and check it by experimental investigation. HFC134a and HFC245fa (substitutes of CFC12 and CFC11, respectively) were condensed in the experiment. Nominal diameter and active length of each test tube is 19.05mm and 500mm, respectively. Diversion ducts were fixed into the test tube bundle to eliminate tube row effect (part of the inundation effect caused by the falling condensate). Drainage strip was equipped on the test tubes to abate the inundation effect induced by condensed condensate. The (These) experimental results show: (1) Inundation effect of HFC 134a and HFC245fa on smooth tube bundle is not as severe as that predicted by Kern’s model. (2) 3D-B enhanced tube is dramatically affected by the inundation effect caused by falling condensate; (3) The equipped diversion ducts can eliminate tube row effect and improve the CHTC of tube bundles composed of smooth and 3D-B tubes. (4) The equipped drainage strip can further enhance the CHTC of 3D-A and 2D-A tubes in the tube bundle.

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Li

This paper addresses fouling in a family of seven 15.54 mm I.D. copper, helically ribbed tubes, which have different ridge heights, helix angles, and number of ridge starts. A series of semi-theoretical linear fouling correlations as a function of the product of area indexes and efficiency indexes for long term combined precipitation and particulate fouling (PPF) in cooling tower systems and a series of semi-theoretical linear fouling correlations as a function of the efficiency indexes for particulate fouling were developed. The correlations can be directly used to assess the fouling potential of enhanced tubes in actual cooling water situations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 1289-1308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bengt Ake Sunden ◽  
Zan Wu ◽  
Dan Huang

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the heat transfer performance of aviation kerosene flowing in smooth and enhanced tubes with asymmetric fins at supercritical pressures and to reveal the effects of several key parameters, such as mass flow rate, heat flux, pressure and inlet temperature on the heat transfer. Design/methodology/approach – A CFD approach is taken and the strong variations of the thermo-physical properties as the critical point is passed are taken into account. The RNG k-ε model is applied for simulating turbulent flow conditions. Findings – The numerical results reveal that the heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing mass flow rate and inlet temperature. The effect of heat flux on heat transfer is more complicated, while the effect of pressure on heat transfer is insignificant. The considered asymmetric fins have a small effect on the fluid temperature, but the wall temperature is reduced significantly by the asymmetric fins compared to that of the corresponding smooth tube. As a result, the asymmetric finned tube leads to a significant heat transfer enhancement (an increase in the heat transfer coefficient about 23-41 percent). The enhancement might be caused by the re-development of velocity and temperature boundary layers in the enhanced tubes. With the asymmetric fins, the pressure loss in the enhanced tubes is slightly larger than that in the smooth tube. A thermal performance factor is applied for combined evaluation of heat transfer enhancement and pressure loss. Research limitations/implications – The asymmetric fins also caused an increased pressure loss. A thermal performance factor ? was used for combined evaluation of heat transfer enhancement and pressure loss. Results show that the two enhanced tubes perform better than the smooth tube. The enhanced tube 2 gave better overall heat transfer performance than the enhanced tube 1. It is suggested that the geometric parameters of the asymmetric fins should be optimized to further improve the thermal performance and also various structures need to be investigated. Practical implications – The asymmetric fins increased the pressure loss. The evaluation of heat transfer enhancement and pressure loss Results showed that the two enhanced tubes perform better than the smooth tube. It is suggested that the geometric parameters of the asymmetric fins should be optimized to further improve the thermal performance and also various structures need to be investigated to make the results more engineering useful. Originality/value – The paper presents unique solutions for thermal performance of a fluid at near critical state in smooth and enhanced tubes. The findings are of relevance for design and thermal optimization particularly in aerospace applications.


Author(s):  
Azmahani Sadikin ◽  
David A. McNeil ◽  
Khalid H. Barmadouf

Two-phase flow on the shell side of a shell and tube heat exchanger is complex. Several studies have produced flow pattern maps that show surprising differences in flow regime boundaries for data sets that contain relatively small variations in fluid and flow properties. Despite this, correlations for void fraction and pressure drop are sufficiently accurate to allow the thermal-fluid design of heat exchangers to be completed. However, these correlations are based on experimental data taken from tube bundles containing tubes with diameters less than 20 mm. This study examines their applicability to tube bundles containing tubes with a diameter of 38 mm. Results for void fraction and pressure drop are presented for air-water flows near atmospheric pressure. The results were obtained for flows through a thin-slice, in-line tube bundle containing 10 rows. The tube bundle contained a central column of tubes with half tubes placed on the shell wall to simulate the presence of other columns. The tubes were 38 mm in diameter and 50 mm long with a pitch to diameter ratio of 1.32. Previous studies have shown that the void fraction in a shell-side, gas-liquid flow becomes constant after only a few rows. Thus, the void fraction was only measured at one location. A single-beam, gamma-ray densitometer was used to measure void fractions near row 7 in the maximum gap between the rows. Corresponding pressure drops were obtained between rows 3 and 10. Data are presented for a mass flux range of 25–688 kg/m2s and a gas mass fraction range of 0.0005–0.6. The measurements are shown to compare reasonably well with predictions from correlations available in the open literature. This shows that these methods can be used for tube-bundles containing larger diameter tubes. Some elements of a heat-exchanger design require a more complex analysis. For example, tube vibration calculations require the distribution of void and phase velocity along the tube length. Such analysis can be provided by multiphase computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations. CFD approaches to modelling these flows require empirical inputs for the drag coefficient and the force on the fluid by the tubes. These are deduced from the measured data. The wall forces are shown to scale well with increased tube diameter, however, caution is required when selecting the drag coefficients.


1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lixin Cheng ◽  
Tingkuan Chen

Abstract Experiments of upward flow boiling heat transfer with water in a vertical smooth tube and a tube with axial micro-grooves were respectively conducted. Both of the tested tubes have a length of 2.5 m, an inner diameter of 15 mm and an outlet diameter of 19 mm. The tube with axial micro grooves has many micro rectangle grooves in its inner wall along the axial direction. The grooves have a depth of 0.5 mm and a width of 0.3 mm. The tests were performed at an absolute pressure of 6 bar. The heat flux ranged from 0 to 550 kW/m2 and the mass flux was selected at 410, 610 and 810 kg/m2s, respectively. By comparison, flow boiling heat transfer coefficients in the enhanced tube are 1.6 ∼ 2.7 fold that in the smooth tube while the frictional pressure drop in the enhanced tube is slightly greater than that in the smooth tube. The augmentation of flow boiling heat transfer in the tube with axial micro-grooves is apparent. Based on the experimental data, a correlation of flow boiling heat transfer is proposed for the enhanced tube. Finally, the mechanisms of heat transfer enhancement are analyzed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Dincer ◽  
Y. Haseli ◽  
G. F. Naterer

Author(s):  
Sarra Zoghlami ◽  
Cédric Béguin ◽  
Stéphane Étienne

To reduce the damage caused by induced vibrations due to two-phase cross flow on tube bundles in heat exchangers, a deep understanding of the different sources of this phenomenon is required. For this purpose, a numerical model was previously developed to simulate the quasi periodic forces on the tube bundle due to two-phase cross flow. An Euler-Lagrange approach is adopted to describe the flow. The Euler approach describes the continuous phase (liquid) using potential flow. The dispersed phase is assumed to have no interaction on liquid flow. Based on visual observation, static vortices behind the tube are introduced. The Lagrange approach describes the dispersed phase (gas). The model allows bubbles to split up or to coalesce. The forces taken into account acting on the bubbles are the buoyancy, the drag and induced drag, the added mass and induced added mass and impact force (bubble-bubble and bubble-tube). Forces taken into account acting on the tubes are impact forces and induced drag and added mass forces. This model allows us to obtain quasi periodic force on tube induced by two-phase cross flow of relative good magnitude and frequency contains. The model still needs improvement to bring us closer to experimental data of force, for example by introducing a dependency between the void ratio and the intensity of the vortex and by taking into account the bubbles deformation.


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