Boiling Heat Transfer on Small Diameter Tube Bundle

Abstract

An experimental study has been carried out using a tube bank representing a section of a tube bundle. The bank comprised 3 columns each of 10 stainless steel electrically heated tubes of 3mm outside diameter with pitch to diameter ratio of 1.5 in an in-line arrangement. Flow rate through the test section was controlled. Each tube in the central column was instrumented to permit determination of the tube temperature and heat flux, hence permitting calculation of the heat transfer coefficient. These tests were carried out using distilled water at nominal atmospheric pressure over a range of heat fluxes between 6 - 21 kW/m2. Results of the heat transfer tests are presented and compared with correlations used for conventionally sized bundles. Correlations developed for large tube bundle overestimate the experimental results.