A Parametric Study of Boiling Heat Transfer in a Horizontal Tube Bundle

Abstract

Boiling heat transfer outside of a section of a uniformly heated horizontal tube bundle in an upward crossflow was investigated using R-113 as the working fluid. The inline tube bundle had five columns and 27 rows with a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.3. Heat transfer coefficients obtained from the 14 instrumented tubes are reported for a range of fluid and flow conditions; slightly subcooled liquid inlet conditions were used. At most heat fluxes there was no significant variation in the local heat transfer coefficients throughout the tube bundle. However, at low heat fluxes and mass velocities, the heat transfer coefficient increased at positions higher in the tube bundle. As pressure and mass velocity increased so did the heat transfer coefficients. For the local heat transfer coefficient, a Chen-type correlation is compared to the data; the data tend to be overpredicted by about 20 percent. Reasons for the overprediction are suggested.