Condensation flow patterns and heat transfer correction for zeotropic hydrocarbon mixtures in a helically coiled tube

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer Vol. 143; p. 118500
• Main Authors: Yu, Jiawen, Jiang, Yiqiang, Cai, Weihua, Li, Xiaojun, Zhu, Zuchao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Annular flow; Condensation; Ethane; Evaporation; Flow distribution; Flow mapping; Flow pattern; Flow visualization; Heat transfer; Helical flow; Helical tube; Hydrocarbon refrigerant; Hydrocarbons; Propane; Slug flow; Stratified flow; Transition flow; Two phase flow; Zeotropic mixtures; Hydrocarbon refrigerant; Zeotropic mixtures; Flow pattern; Helical tube; Condensation; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2019.118500

•Flow patterns for zeotropic hydrocarbon mixtures were observed.•A new flow pattern transition line between annular and non-annular flow pattern was proposed.•An improved heat transfer correlation was proposed. An experimental and simulation investigation of condensation flow pattern and heat transfer characteristics of zeotropic hydrocarbon mixtures methane/propane and ethane/propane in a helical tube was presented. Flow visualization was conducted to capture flow pattern during flow condensation. The flow mechanisms were categorized into six different flow patterns: slug flow, stratified flow, transition flow, wavy flow, half-annular flow and annular flow. In addition, several existing two-phase flow pattern maps in horizontal tube were compared with the flow pattern data. Then a new flow pattern transition line between annular and non-annular flow pattern was proposed. Based on the flow pattern transition line, the heat transfer data under different flow pattern were compared with the existing heat transfer corrections. Finally, an improved heat transfer correlation was proposed and well coincided with the data with a mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) of 13.8%.