Heat transfer and visualization in large flattened-tube condensers with variable inclination

Davies, William Allen

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90669 Copy

Description

Title

Heat transfer and visualization in large flattened-tube condensers with variable inclination

Author(s)

Davies, William Allen

Issue Date

2016-04-27

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Hrnjak, Predrag S.

Department of Study

Mechanical Sci & Engineering

Discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Condensers
• Condensation
• Air-Cooled
• Inclined
• Flattened-Tube
• Heat Transfer Coefficient
• Visualization

Abstract

An experimental study of convective condensation of steam in a large, inclined, finned tube is presented. This study extends previous work in the field on inclined, convective condensation in small, round tubes to large, non-circular tubes with low inlet mass flux of vapor. The steel condenser tube in this study was designed for use in a power-plant air-cooled-condenser array with forced convection of air. The tube was cut in half lengthwise and covered with a polycarbonate viewing window. The half tube had inner dimensions of 214mm x 6.3mm and a length of 10.72m. The viewing window allowed visualization of the steam flow and condensation. This study investigated heat transfer and void fraction results for a mass flux of steam of 7.5 kg/m2-s over a range of inclination angles. The angle of inclination of the condenser tube was varied from 0.3o (horizontal) to 13.2o downward flow. The experiments were performed with uniform crossflowing air with velocity of 2 m/s. Both dropwise and filmwise condensation were observed on the tube wall, and depth of the condensate river at tube bottom was seen to decrease with an increase in inclination angle. Average steam-side heat transfer coefficient was shown to increase with an increase in inclination angle. However, average steam-side heat transfer coefficient was much lower than the predictions of both vertical flat-plate Nusselt condensation, as well as Kroger's correlation for condensation in air-cooled condensers. Overall, the results suggest that an improvement in steam-side heat transfer performance can be achieved by varying the tube inclination angle. Pressure drop results are presented in a companion paper.

Graduation Semester

2016-05

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90669

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2016 William Davies

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