Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 1-4 July, 2007.
The heat transfer and pressure drop in a thermoplate heat
exchanger operated as condenser have been investigated
experimentally. In order to separate the heat transfer resistances
in the condensation process, first the single phase forced
convection in the thermoplate using distilled water and
Marlotherm oil has been studied and correlation for the Nusselt
number and friction factor developed. For the condensation
experiments an apparatus has been conceived comprising two
identical condensers made of the same thermoplate type as
employed in the single phase experiments. Isopropanol was used
as test fluid at pressures below the atmospheric pressure. With
the aid of the results obtained in the single phase studies the heat
transfer resistances in the condensation experiments were
separated and expressions for the condensation heat transfer and
pressure drop developed.
