Heat transfer direction dependence of heat transfer coefficients in annuli

Abstract

In this experimental study the heat transfer phenomena in concentric annuli in tube-in-tube heat exchangers at different annular Reynolds numbers, annular diameter ratios, and inlet fluid temperatures using water were considered. Turbulent flow with Reynolds numbers ranging from 15,000 to 45,000, based on the average bulk fluid temperature was tested at annular diameter ratios of 0.327, 0.386, 0.409 and 0.483 with hydraulic diameters of 17.00, 22.98, 20.20 and 26.18 mm respectively. Both heated and cooled annuli were investigated by conducting tests at a range of inlet temperatures between 10 °C to 30 °C for heating cases, and 30 °C to 50 °C for cooling cases. Of special interest was the direct measurement of local wall temperatures on the heat transfer surface, which is often difficult to obtain and evasive in data-sets. Continuous verification and re-evaluation of temperatures measurements were performed via in-situ calibration. It is shown that inlet fluid temperature and the heat transfer direction play significant roles on the magnitude of the heat transfer coefficient. A new adjusted Colburn j-factor definition is presented to describe the heating and cooling cases and is used to correlate the 894 test cases considered in this study.