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Experimental Study on Flow Condensation Heat Transfer in a Horizontal Rectangular Channel with Ellipse-shape Pin Fins

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Abstract

In present study, a new type of three-dimensional pin–fin plate with elliptical cross-section was proposed. Experimental study on flow condensation heat transfer in a horizontal rectangular channel with proposed ellipse-shape pin fins was carried out at atmospheric pressure. Droplets on flat plate and elliptical pin fin plate both grew up and coalesced into larger droplets, but never departed or rolled down from the surface, which is visibly different from the condensation on vertical wall. The condensate on elliptical pin–fin surface spread far and wide under the action of pin-fins. All the tested plates were observed to form a stable liquid film. The effects of pin geometry and mass flow rate on condensation heat transfer and pressure drop were investigated. The results showed that all the elliptical pin–fin plates exhibited substantially better performance than the flat plate. Pin geometry had slight influence on condensation heat transfer and pressure drop. However, the effect of mass flow rate was obvious. The highest enhancement ratio of 1.38 was achieved. The results can provide reference for further optimization design of pin–fin enhanced condensation structure.

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Abbreviations

a :

Major axis of elliptical pin–fin cross-section (m)

b :

Minor axis of elliptical pin–fin cross-section (m)

C :

Empirical constant (W/(m2·K−4/5))

g:

Acceleration of gravity (m/s2)

h :

Pin height (m)

\(h_{fg}\) :

Vaporization heat (J/kg)

\(h_{li}\) :

Local condensation heat transfer coefficient (W/(m2·K))

\(h_{L}\) :

Condensation heat transfer coefficient (W/(m2·K))

[Inline Image Removed]:

Average condensation heat transfer coefficient of flat plate (W/(m2·K))

[Inline Image Removed]:

Average condensation heat transfer coefficient of pin–fin plate (W/(m2·K))

L :

Length of plate (m)

n :

Number of pins on each elliptical pin–fin plate (-)

\({q}_{i}\) :

Local heat flux (W/(m2))

\({s}_{h}\) :

Horizontal pin spacing (m)

\({s}_{v}\) :

Vertical pin spacing (m)

S:

Increased surface area (m2)

\({S}_{b}\) :

base area of elliptical pin-fin plate m2)

\({S}_{ep}\) :

Total cross-section area of all elliptical pin-fins on each plate (m2)

T :

Temperature (K)

\({T}_{bi}\) :

Local back temperature of elliptical pin–fin plate (K)

\({T}_{i}, {T}_{i}^{^{\prime}}\) :

Measured local temperature in condensing base (K)

[Inline Image Removed]:

Measured steam temperature in test section (K)

\({T}_{wi}\) :

Local wall temperature of elliptical pin–fin plate (K)

\(\left({x}_{1},{x}_{2},\dots ,{x}_{i},\dots {x}_{n}\right)\) :

Mutual independent variables

\({u}_{x_i}\) :

Uncertainty for the object function

\({u}_{y}\) :

Uncertainty for the measured physical variables

W :

Width of plate (m)

\(\Delta y_{1}\) :

Distance from between \(T_{bi}\) and \(T_{i}\) (m)

\(\Delta y_{2}\) :

Distance from between \(T_{i}\) and \(T_{i} ^{\prime}\) (m)

\(\lambda\) :

Thermal conductivity of brass (W/(m·K))

\(\lambda_{l}\) :

Thermal conductivity of liquid (W/(m·K))

\(\mu_{l}\) :

Kinetic viscosity of liquid (kg/(m·s))

\(\rho_{l}\) :

Liquid density (kg/m3)

\(\delta\) :

Base thickness of elliptical pin–fin plate (mm)

\(\pi\) :

Circumference ratio (-)

\(\varepsilon\) :

Enhancement ratio (\(\varepsilon = \left( {\frac{{\overline{h}_{pin - fin \, plate} }}{{\overline{h}_{flat \, plate} }}} \right)_{same \Delta T}\)  

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.52006031), ESA-CMSA International Cooperation of Space Experiment Project (Study on Condensation and Enhancement Methods under Microgravity), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51606174), Key projects of Science and Technology of Henan Province (212102310097) and Key Scientific Research Projects in Henan colleges and universities of China (21A470006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, 450001, People’s Republic of China

    Leigang Zhang & Zhang Fangfang

  2. School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, People’s Republic of China

    Leigang Zhang, Bo Xu, Juan Shi, Xin Wang & Zhenqian Chen

  3. Key Laboratory of Energy Thermal Conversion and Control of Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, People’s Republic of China

    Zhenqian Chen

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  1. Leigang Zhang
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Correspondence to Zhenqian Chen.

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This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Research Pioneer and Leader of Microgravity Science in China: Dedicated to the 85th Birthday of Academician Wen-Rui Hu

Guest Editors: Jian-Fu Zhao, Kai Li

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Zhang, L., Xu, B., Shi, J. et al. Experimental Study on Flow Condensation Heat Transfer in a Horizontal Rectangular Channel with Ellipse-shape Pin Fins. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 34, 46 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-022-09948-1

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