Heat transfer performance of an oil jet impinging on a downward-facing stainless steel plate

Abstract

An experimental study is carried out for the quenching of a stainless steel plate using a single oil jet impinging on the bottom surface of the plate. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the oil jet flow operating conditions onto the heat transfer effectiveness when the plate is heated to temperatures ranging from around 115 to 630?C, and the oil is heated to temperatures ranging from 60 to 75?C. Tests are conducted on the oil at various temperatures to determine its viscosity. Experiments are conducted for nozzle exit flow rates ranging from 113 to 381 ml/min, oil jet pressures from 3.1 to 12 psi, and nozzle-to-plate surface distances of 0.6 and 1 cm. The variation of the oil heat flux and heat transfer coefficient with the surface temperature for the different quenching parameters is calculated from the acquired temperature data. Tests results show the oil heat transfer effectiveness keeps increasing for increasing plate temperature. Oil jet pressure is shown to have a considerable effect on the oil heat transfer, while the nozzle-to-plate surface distance is shown to have a lesser effect. The results of this study shall lead to a better understanding of the parameters that play an important role in oil quenching for applications that are of interest to the metal process industry.