Horizontal Plain and Low-Finned Condenser Tubes—Effect of Fin Spacing and Drainage Strips on Heat Transfer and Condensate Retention

1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 946-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. K. Yau ◽  
J. R. Cooper ◽  
J. W. Rose

The paper reports a continuation of an experimental investigation of the effect of fin pitch on the heat transfer performance of horizontal, integral-fin tubes for condensation of steam at near-atmospheric pressure. The effects of “drainage strips” located along the lower edge of finned and plain tubes have been studied. These gave significant increases in the heat transfer coefficient for finned tubes but had only marginal effect for the plain tube. Condensate retention angles have also been measured for simulated condensation using water, ethylene glycol, and refrigerant-113 for finned tubes with and without drainage strips. In the latter case the data agreed satisfactorily with theory. Drainage strips were found to reduce the extent of holdup significantly.

1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Sukhatme ◽  
B. S. Jagadish ◽  
P. Prabhakaran

The heat transfer performance of R-11 vapor condensing on single horizontal trapezodially shaped integral-fin tubes has been investigated by systematically varying the fin density, the semi-vertex angle, and the fin height. For the nine copper tubes tested, the best performance has been obtained with a tube having a fin density of 1417 fpm, a semi-vertex angle of 10 deg, and a fin height of 1.22 mm. This tube has yielded a maximum value of the heat transfer coefficient of 16,500 W/m2 K at a ΔT of about 3 K, corresponding to an enhancement ratio of 10.3. The performance of the tube has been further improved by fabricating from it “specially enhanced” tubes having axial grooves of varying height. An enhancement ratio of 12.3 has been obtained with this type of tube.


1985 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. K. Yau ◽  
J. R. Cooper ◽  
J. W. Rose

The dependence of heat transfer performance on fin spacing has been investigated for condensation of steam on horizontal integral-fin tubes. Thirteen tubes have been used with rectangular section fins having the same width and height (0.5 mm and 1.6 mm) and with fin pitch varying from 1.0 mm to 20.5 mm. For comparison, tests were made using a plain tube having the same inside diameter and an outside diameter equal to that at the root of the fins for the finned tubes. All tests were made at near-atmospheric pressure with vapor flowing vertically downward with velocities between 0.5 m/s and 1.1 m/s. The observed heat transfer enhancement for the finned tubes significantly exceeded that to be expected on grounds of increased area. Plots of enhancement against fin density were repeatable and showed local maxima and minima. The dependence of enhancement on fin density did not depend appreciably on vapor velocity or condensation rate for the ranges used. The maximum vapor-side enhancement (i.e., vapor-side heat transfer coefficient of finned tube/vapor-side coefficient for plain tube) was found to be around 3.6 for the tube with a fin spacing of 1.5 mm.


2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 754-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Belghazi ◽  
A. Bontemps ◽  
C. Marvillet

Condensation heat transfer in a bundle of horizontal enhanced surface copper tubes (Gewa C+ tubes) has been experimentally investigated, and a comparison with trapezoidal shaped fin tubes with several fin spacing has been made. These tubes have a specific surface three-dimensional geometry (notched fins) and the fluids used are either pure refrigerant (HFC134a) or binary mixtures of refrigerants (HFC23/HFC134a). For the pure fluid and a Gewa C+ single tube, the results were analyzed with a specifically developed model, taking into account both gravity and surface tension effects. For the bundle and for a pure fluid, the inundation of the lowest tubes has a strong effect on the Gewa C+ tube performances contrary to the finned tubes. For the mixture, the heat transfer coefficient decreases dramatically for the Gewa C+ tube.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 6960
Author(s):  
Juan Shi ◽  
Hua Xue ◽  
Zhenqian Chen ◽  
Li Sun

In this work, a new solar vacuum tube (SVT) integrating with phase change material is introduced and numerically investigated. The mathematical model and the numerical solution of phase change heat transfer is introduced. The heat transfer of the solar energy collection system during the energy storage process is simulated. Solid-liquid phase change characteristics of the SVT with paraffin inside is analyzed. Optimization analysis of fin structure parameters (fin thickness and fin spacing) in the vacuum tube is conducted. The results showed that the metal fin has a great effect on the phase change heat transfer of paraffin in SVTs. The closer the paraffin is to the fins, the more uniform the paraffin temperature is and the sooner the paraffin melts. As the fin thickness increases and the spacing between the fins decreases, the melting time of the paraffin decreases. Meanwhile, the effect of fin spacing on the overall heat transfer performance of the phase change energy storage tube is larger than the effect of the fin thickness. When the fin thickness is 2 mm, the melting time of paraffin with a fin spacing of 80 mm is 21,000 s, which is almost three times of that with a fin spacing of 10 mm (7400 s). Therefore, decreasing fin spacing is an effective way of enhancing phase change heat transfer. When the total fin volume is constant, a SVT with small fin space and small fin thickness performs better in heat transfer performance.


Author(s):  
Adrian Briggs

This paper presents an overview of the use of low or mini-fin tubes for improving heat-transfer performance in shell-side condensers. The paper concentrates on, but is not limited to, the experimental and theoretical program in progress at Queen Mary, University of London. This work has so far resulted in an extensive data base of experimental data for condensation on single tubes, covering a wide range of tube geometries and fluid thermophysical properties and in the development of a simple to use model which predicts the majority of this data to within 20%. Work is progressing on the effects of vapor shear and on three-dimensional fin profiles; the later having shown the potential for even higher heat-transfer enhancement.


Author(s):  
Karim Egab ◽  
Saad K. Oudah ◽  
M. Alwazzan ◽  
Jamil Khan ◽  
Chen Li

The scope of combining two wettability regions is to impact the droplet dynamic behaviors, manipulate the droplets’ mobility and enhance condensation heat transfer. Hydrophobic-hydrophilic hybrid patterns can promote the heat transfer, droplet-renewal frequency and enhance the droplets’ removal during condensation. With regard of condensation on hybrid surfaces, the geometry of the patterns has a significant influence on droplets departure frequency and heat transfer performance. Therefore, different patterns geometries (circle, ellipse, and diamond) have been developed on horizontal copper tubes at atmospheric pressure. All the patterns have the same size, and the same identical gap as well between the adjacent patterns. Results show that the diamond hybrid surface has the best performance compared with ellipse, circles hybrid surfaces at the same pattern area with same neighbor gap between two patterns and complete dropwise However, the circle and ellipse hybrid surfaces outperform lower performance compared to complete dropwise surface. The heat transfer rate for the diamond hybrid surface is 15% higher than complete dropwise surface when the gap is 0.5mm. This study clearly demonstrated the effect of pattern’s geometry regarding maximum condensation heat transfer rate and droplet departure frequency.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1255
Author(s):  
Liping Zeng ◽  
Xing Liu ◽  
Quan Zhang ◽  
Jun Yi ◽  
Xiaohua Li ◽  
...  

This paper mainly studies the heat transfer performance of backplane micro-channel heat pipes by establishing a steady-state numerical model. Compared with the experimental data, the heat transfer characteristics under different structure parameters and operating parameters were studied, and the change of heat transfer coefficient inside the system, the air outlet temperature of the back plate and the influence of different environmental factors on the heat transfer performance of the system were analyzed. The results show that the overall error between simulation results and experimental data is less than 10%. In the range of the optimal filling rate (FR = 64.40%–73.60%), the outlet temperature at the lowest point and the highest point of the evaporation section is 22.46 °C and 19.60 °C, the temperature difference does not exceed 3 °C, and the distribution gradient in vertical height is small and the air outlet temperature is uniform. The heat transfer coefficient between the evaporator and the condenser is larger than the heat transfer coefficient under the conditions of low and high liquid charge rate. It increases gradually along the flow direction, and decreases gradually with the flow rate of the condenser. When the width of the flat tube of the evaporator increases from 20 mm to 28 mm, the internal pressure drop of the evaporator decreases by 45.83% and the heat exchange increases by 18.34%. When the number of evaporator slices increases from 16 to 24, the heat transfer increases first and then decreases, with an overall decrease of 2.86% and an increase of 87.67% in the internal pressure drop of the evaporator. The inclination angle of the corrugation changes from 30° to 60°, and the heat transfer capacity and pressure drop increase. After the inclination angle is greater than 60°, the heat transfer capacity and resistance decrease. The results are of great significance to system optimization design and engineering practical application.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre M. Bukasa ◽  
Leon Liebenberg ◽  
Josua P. Meyer

The effect of the spiral angle on the heat transfer performance in micro-fin tube condensers has not yet been clearly established because other geometric parameters affecting the heat transfer performance were simultaneously varied in previous studies. This paper reports on the influence of the spiral angle on the heat transfer during condensation inside spiralled micro-fin tubes having all other geometric parameters constant. Tests were conducted for condensation of R-22, R-134a, and R-407C inside a smooth (9.52 mm outer diameter) and three micro-fin tubes with approximately the same diameter, having spiral angles of 10 deg, 18 deg, and 37 deg, respectively. Experimental results indicated a heat transfer augmentation with spiral angle increase. A new semi-empirical predictive correlation was developed for practical design of spiralled micro-fin tubes. The proposed new correlation predicted the majority of experimental results of the present study within a deviation zone of ±20%.


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