Effect of Plenum Length and Diameter on Turbulent Heat Transfer in a Downstream Tube and on Plenum-Related Pressure Losses

1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Lau ◽  
E. M. Sparrow ◽  
J. W. Ramsey

A systematic experimental study was carried out to determine how the heat transfer characteristics of a turbulent tube flow are affected by the length and diameter of a cylindrical plenum chamber which delivers fluid to the tube. The net pressure loss due to the presence of the plenum was also measured. The experimental arrangement was such that the fluid experiences a consecutive expansion and contraction in the plenum before entering the electrically heated test section. Air was the working fluid, and the Reynolds number was varied over the range from 5,000 to 60,000. It was found that at axial stations in the upstream portion of the tube, there are substantially higher heat transfer coefficients in the presence of longer plenums. Thus, a longer plenum functions as an enhancement device. On the other hand, the plenum diameter appears to have only a minor influence in the range investigated (i.e., plenum diameters equal to three and six times the tube diameter). The fully developed Nusselt numbers are independent of the plenum length and diameter. With longer plenums in place, the thermal entrance length showed increased sensitivity to Reynolds number in the fully turbulent regime. The pressure loss coefficient, which compares the plenum-related pressure loss with the velocity head in the tube, increases more or less linearly with the plenum length. With regard to experimental technique, it was demonstrated that guard heating/cooling of the electrical bus adjacent to the tube inlet is necessary for accurate heat transfer results at low Reynolds numbers but, although desirable, is less necessary at higher Reynolds numbers.

1979 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Sparrow ◽  
R. G. Kemink

Experiments have been performed to study how fluid withdrawal at a branch point in a tube affects the turbulent heat transfer characteristics of the main line flow downstream of the branch. Air was the working fluid. The experiments were carried out for several fixed test section Reynolds numbers and at each Reynolds number the ratio of the withdrawn flow to the test section flow (hereafter designated as the flow split number) was varied systematically. Local heat transfer coefficients were determined both around circumference and along the length of the tube, and circumferential average coefficients were also evaluated. The circumferential average Nusselt numbers in the thermal entrance region are much higher than those for a conventional turbulent pipe flow having the same Reynolds number, and the differences are accentuated at higher values of the flow split number. When normalized by the corresponding fully developed value, the axial distribution of the circumferential average Nusselt number is relatively insensitive to the Reynolds number for a fixed flow split. The thermal entrance lengths, based on a five percent approach to fully developed conditions, are in the 20 to 30 diameter range, which is substantially greater than that for conventional turbulent air flows. Circumferential variations on the order of ±20 percent are induced by the fluid withdrawal process. For the most part, these variations are dissipated upstream of x/D = 10.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ichimiya

Experiments were conducted to determine the turbulent heat transfer and flow characteristics of an oblique impinging circular jet within closely confined walls using air as a working fluid. The local temperature distribution on the impingement surface was obtained in detail by a thermocamera using a liquid crystal sheet. A correction to the heat flux was evaluated by using the detailed temperature distribution and solving numerically the three-dimensional equation of heat conduction in the heated section. Two-dimensional profiles of the local Nusselt numbers and temperatures changed with jet angle and Reynolds number. These showed a peak shift toward the minor flow region and a plateau of the local heat transfer coefficients in the major flow region. The local velocity and turbulent intensity in the gap between the confined insulated wall and impingement surface were also obtained in detail by a thermal anemometer.


Author(s):  
M. K. Chyu

The heat transfer distributions for flow passing through a two-pass (one-turn) and a three-pass (two-turn) passages with 180-degree sharp turns are studied by using the analogous naphthalene mass transfer technique. Both passages have square cross-section and length-to-height ratio of 8. The passage surface, including top wall, side walls and partition walls, is divided into 26 segments for the two-pass passage and 40 segments for the three-pass passage. Mass transfer results are presented for each segment along with regional and overall averages. The very non-uniform mass transfer coefficients measured around a sharp 180-degree turn exhibit the effects of flow separation, reattachment and impingement, in addition to secondary flows. Results of the three-pass passage indicate that heat transfer characteristics around the second turn is virtually the same as that around the first turn. This may imply that, in a multiple-pass passage, heat transfer at the first turn has already reached the thermally developed (periodic) condition. Over the entire two-pass passage, the heat transfer enhancement induced by the single-turn is about 45% to 65% of the fully developed values in a straight channel. Such a heat transfer enhancement decreases with an increase in Reynolds number. In addition, overall heat transfer of the three-pass passage is approximately 15% higher than that of the two-pass one. This 15% increase appears to be Reynolds number independent. The pressure loss induced by the sharp turns is found to be very significant. Within the present testing range, the pressure loss coefficient for both passages varies significantly with the Reynolds number.


Author(s):  
Shuichi Torii

The aim of the present study is to investigate the thermal fluid flow transport phenomenon of nanofluids in the heated horizontal circular tube. Consideration is given to the effects of volume fraction of the nanoparticle and Reynolds number on the turbulent heat transfer and pressure loss. Diamond, alumina (Al2O3) and oxide copper (CuO) are employed here as nanoparticles. It is found that (i) the viscosity of nanofluids increases with an increase in the volume fraction of nanoparticles dispersed in the working fluid, (ii) the pressure loss of nanofluids increases slightly in comparison with that of pure fluid and (iii) enhancement heat transfer performance is caused by suspending nanoparticles except for the case of large particle aggregation.


1978 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 588-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. K. Koram ◽  
E. M. Sparrow

Pipe flow experiments were performed to study the heat transfer in the separation, reattachment, and redevelopment regions downstream of a wall-attached blockage in the form of a segmental orifice plate. Water was the working fluid, and the Reynolds number encompassed the range from about 10,000–60,000. The extent of the flow blockage was varied from one-fourth to three-fourths of the tube cross section. Heat transfer coefficients were determined both around the circumference of the uniformly heated tube and along its length. The axial distributions of the circumferential average Nusselt numbers show an initial increase, then attain a maximum, and subsequently decrease toward the fully developed regime. These Nusselt numbers are much higher than those for a conventional thermal entrance region. The unsymmetric blockage induces variations of the Nusselt number around the circumference of the tube. Axial distributions of the Nusselt number at various fixed angular positions reveal the presence of two types of maxima. One of these is associated with the reattachment of the flow and the other occurs due to the impingement of flow deflected by the blockage onto the tube wall. The circumferential variations decay with increasing downstream distance, but the rate of decay for the case of the smallest blockage is remarkably slow. Although most of the tests were performed for Pr = 4, supplementary experiments for Pr = 8 showed that the results are valid for a range of Prandtl numbers.


1966 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. Kinney ◽  
E. M. Sparrow

Experimental measurements, supported by analysis, were performed to determine the heat-transfer characteristics of an internally heat generating fluid in the fully turbulent regime. Heat was generated uniformly within the flow by electrical dissipation, the working fluid being an aqueous solution of sodium chloride salt. Measurements were made of the fully developed wall-to-bulk temperature differences for flow in an adiabatic pipe; data were also collected in the thermal entrance region. The Reynolds numbers and the Prandtl numbers, respectively, ranged from 10,000 to 80,000 and from 3 to 4. The small wall-to-bulk temperature differences (between 1 and 2 deg F) necessitated special care and instrumentation beyond that required in conventional turbulent heat-transfer measurements. The fully developed wall-to-bulk temperature differences were in very satisfactory agreement with the analytical calculations. The consistent scatter in the data was no more than ±7 percent over the entire Reynolds number range. The analytical solutions were found to be very sensitive to the choice of the eddy diffusivity for heat. The assumption of equal diffusivities for heat and momentum led to the most satisfactory agreement between the experimental and analytical results. Additional numerical results are presented which include fluids with Prandtl numbers ranging from 1 to 100 for Reynolds numbers from 10,000 to 150,000.


1967 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. W. Black ◽  
E. M. Sparrow

An experimental investigation, supported by analysis, was performed to determine the heat transfer characteristics for turbulent flow in a circular tube with circumferentially varying wall temperature and wall heat flux. Air was the working fluid. The desired boundary conditions were achieved by electric heating within the wall of a tube whose thickness varied circumferentially. In this way, ratios of maximum-to-minimum wall heat flux as large as two were attained. Local heat transfer coefficients, deduced from the experimental data, display a circumferential variation that is substantially smaller than the heat flux variation. In general, lower heat transfer coefficients correspond to circumferential locations of greater heating, while higher coefficients correspond to locations of lesser heating. The predictions of prior analyses appear to overestimate the circumferential variation of the heat transfer coefficient. A specially designed probe was employed to measure the radial and circumferential temperature distributions within the flowing airstream. On the basis of these measurements, as well as from the heat transfer results, it is concluded that, in the neighborhood of the wall, the tangential turbulent diffusivity is greater than the radial turbulent diffusivity. The axial thermal development was found to be more rapid on the lesser-heated side of the tube than on the greater-heated side. Experimentally determined circumferential-average heat transfer coefficients agreed well with the predictions of analysis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 751 ◽  
pp. 245-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niwat Piriyarungroj ◽  
Smith Eiamsa-ard ◽  
Pongjet Promvonge ◽  
Petpices Eiamsa-Ard ◽  
Chinaruk Thianpong

The effects of loose-fit twisted tape (LFT) on the heat transfer rate, friction factor, fluid phenomena and thermal performance of a tube under constant wall temperature are examined. It is observed that apart from the rise of Reynolds number, the reduction of the clearance ratio (c/D) leads to an increase in the heat transfer and pressure loss. According to the numerical results, the heat transfer and friction factor in the tubes with loose-fit twisted tape (LFT) for the smallest clearance ratio of c/D = 0.05 are higher those other clearance ratios. In addition, the thermal performances of clearance ratio c/D = 0.05 are found to be higher than those other clearance ratios (c/D) for all Reynolds numbers examined.


1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. Chyu

The heat transfer distributions for flow passing through two-pass (one-turn) and three-pass (two-turn) passages with 180-deg sharp turns are studied by using the analogous naphthalene mass transfer technique. Both passages have square cross section and length-to-height ratio of 8. The passage surface, including top wall, side walls, and partition walls, is divided into 26 segments for the two-pass passage and 40 segments for the three-pass passage. Mass transfer results are presented for each segment along with regional and overall averages. The very nonuniform mass transfer coefficients measured around a sharp 180-deg turn exhibit the effects of flow separation, reattachment, and impingement, in addition to secondary flows. Results for the three-pass passage indicate that heat transfer characteristics around the second turn are virtually the same as those around the first turn. This may imply that, in a multiple-pass passage, heat transfer at the first turn has already reached the thermally developed (periodic) condition. Over the entire two-pass passage, the heat transfer enhancement induced by the single-turn is about 45 to 65 percent of the fully developed values in a straight channel. Such a heat transfer enhancement decreases with an increase in Reynolds number. In addition, overall heat transfer of the three-pass passage is approximately 15 percent higher than that of the two-pass one. This 15 percent increase appears to be Reynolds number independent. The pressure loss induced by the sharp turns is found to be very significant. Within the present testing range, the pressure loss coefficient for both passages is Reynolds number dependent.


1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Sparrow ◽  
D. S. Kadle

Experiments were performed to determine the response of the heat transfer from a longitudinal fin array to the presence of clearance between the fin tips and an adjacent shroud. During the course of the experiments, the clearance was varied parametrically, starting with the no-clearance case; parametric variations of the fin height and of the rate of fluid flow through the array were also carried out. Air was the working fluid, and the flow was turbulent. The fully developed heat transfer coefficients corresponding to the presence and to the absence of clearance were compared under the condition of equal air flowrate, and substantial clearance-related reductions were found to exist. For clearances equal to 10, 20, and 30 percent of the fin height, the heat transfer coefficients were 85, 74, and 64 percent of those for the no-clearance case. The ratio of the with-clearance and no-clearance heat transfer coefficients was a function only of the clearance-to-fin-height ratio, independent of the air flowrate, the fin height, and the fin efficiency model used to evaluate the heat transfer coefficients. The presence of clearance slowed the rate of thermal development in the entrance region.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document