The Influence of Header Design on Two-Phase Flow Distribution in Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers

Author(s):  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
Sunil Mehendale ◽  
Shengnan Lv ◽  
Hui Yuan ◽  
JinJin Tian

Abstract Fluid flow maldistribution causes deterioration of heat transfer as well as pressure drop penalty in heat exchangers. A test bench was set up to investigate the effect of different header designs on air-water flow distribution in plate-fin heat exchangers (PFHX). Two-phase flow distribution was examined for air Reynolds numbers (ReG) of 28293542 and inlet qualities (x) of 46.3–64.0%. Two-phase flow distribution was seen to be more uneven in the heat exchanger in comparison with single-phase flow, the water distribution being more uneven than that of the air. For a fixed inlet quality, as the air flowrate was increased, the distribution of two-phase flow became increasingly nonuniform, showing a pattern similar to single-phase flow. Furthermore, the air distribution became more even, while the water flow became more unevenly distributed as the inlet quality increased. To mitigate the maldistribution, perforated plates were incorporated in the heat exchanger header. The improved headers significantly aided in distributing the two-phase flow more evenly. At ReG = 2829 and x = 46.3%, the heat exchanger effectiveness was expressed in terms of the unevenness in quality, Sx. The effectiveness decreased as the unevenness of the flow distribution was exacerbated, emphasizing the significance of uniform phase and flow distribution as a key element of heat exchanger design.

Author(s):  
Suizheng Qiu ◽  
Minoru Takahashi ◽  
Guanghui Su ◽  
Dounan Jia

Water single-phase and nucleate boiling heat transfer were experimentally investigated in vertical annuli with narrow gaps. The experimental data about water single-phase flow and boiling two-phase flow heat transfer in narrow annular channel were accumulated by two test sections with the narrow gaps of 1.0mm and 1.5mm. Empirical correlations to predict the heat transfer of the single-phase flow and boiling two-phase flow in the narrow annular channel were obtained, which were arranged in the forms of the Dittus-Boelter for heat transfer coefficients in a single-phase flow and the Jens-Lottes formula for a boiling two-phase flow in normal tubes, respectively. The mechanism of the difference between the normal channel and narrow annular channel were also explored. From experimental results, it was found that the turbulent heat transfer coefficients in narrow gaps are nearly the same to the normal channel in the experimental range, and the transition Reynolds number from a laminar flow to a turbulent flow in narrow annuli was much lower than that in normal channel, whereas the boiling heat transfer in narrow annular gap was greatly enhanced compared with the normal channel.


Author(s):  
Toshimichi Arai ◽  
Naoki Kudo ◽  
Tsuneaki Ishima ◽  
Ismail M. Youssef ◽  
Tomio Obokata ◽  
...  

Characteristics on particle motion in a liquid-solid two-phase jet flow were studied in the paper. The water jet including glass particle of 389 μm in mean diameter was injected into water bath. The experimental conditions were 0.21% of initial particle volume ratio, 5mm in pipe diameter and 1.84 m/s of mean velocity on outlet of the jet. A laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) with size discrimination was applied for measuring the time serious velocities of the single-phase flow, particle and water phase flow. A particle image velocimetry (PIV) was also applied in the two-phase flow. The normal PIV method can hardly measure the particle size and perform the particle size discrimination. In the experiment, using the gray scales related with the scattering light intensity, measuring method with size discrimination in two-phase flow was carried out. The experimental results show less difference between velocities of single-phase flow and water-phase flow under this low particle volume ratio condition. Particles have the relative motion with the water-phase and large rms velocity. The PIV used in this experiment, which is called multi-intensity-layer-PIV: MILP, can measure water-phase velocity with good accuracy.


Author(s):  
Bjo¨rn Palm

The purpose of the present paper is to present research and development within the area of mini- and micro channels in Sweden. A review is made of the historical development of highly compact heat exchangers within the country, starting with plate heat exchangers. The main focus is on the research performed at the Royal Institute of Technology, where mini-channel research has been going on since more than ten years. Single-phase flow as well as two-phase flow is treated, both in single channels and in full-size heat exchangers with multiple parallel channels.


Author(s):  
Jiang Nai-bin ◽  
Gao Li-xia ◽  
Huang Xuan ◽  
Zang Feng-gang ◽  
Xiong Fu-rui

In steam generators and other heat exchangers, there are a lot of tube bundles subjected to two-phase cross-flow. The fluctuating pressure on tube bundle caused by turbulence can induce structural vibration. The experimental data from a U-tube bundle of steam generator in air-water flow loop are analyzed in this work. The different upper bounds of buffeting force are used to calculate the turbulence buffeting response of U-tubes, and the calculation results are compared with the experimental results. The upper bounds of buffeting force include one upper bound based on single-phase flow, and two upper bounds based on two-phase flow. It is shown that the upper bound based on single-phase flow seriously underestimated the turbulence excitation, the calculated vibration response is much less than the experimental measurement. On the other hand, the vibration response results calculated with the upper bounds based on two-phase flow are closer to the measured results under most circumstances.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017.27 (0) ◽  
pp. 427
Author(s):  
Mark Anthony REDO ◽  
Niccolo GIANNETTI ◽  
Jongsoo JEONG ◽  
Koji ENOKI ◽  
Ikuhide OTA ◽  
...  

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