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Experimental investigation of convective heat transfer properties of synthetic fluid

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Abstract

Heat transfer fluids are important component in transferring heat through heat exchangers in variety of industrial applications including solar energy. Measurement of convective heat transfer coefficients in experimental setup simulating as much actual operating conditions as possible is one reliable method. Experimenting with fully synthetic heat transfer oil meant for use in concentrated solar power plants, the paper presents experimental data for the oil run in a closed-loop indoor test setup up to high temperatures of 200 °C and at two flow rates of 900 and 1200 kg h−1. Convective heat transfer coefficients were calculated based on actual steady-state heat transfer taking place between the hot oil and cold water flowing in a counterflow shell and tube heat exchanger. It was observed that the convective heat transfer coefficient is higher at lower oil flow rate and there is more variation in the experimental values at lower flow rates of oil. On the contrary, the coefficients of convective heat transfer on the basis of empirical correlations at same two oil flow rates were calculated to be higher at higher oil flow rate with the variation uniformly patterned. With respect to calculations based on empirical correlations and experimentally observed values, a comparison of convective heat transfer coefficient “hi” for oil at the two flow rates, the empirically calculated heat transfer coefficients show an increasing trend with a definite gradient, while the experimental values show variable trend which is increasing initially with temperature, then drops slightly and then again starts to increase. In view of the fact that the empirical correlations do not take into account the nature and chemistry of the oil, it has been concluded that the experimental determination of heat transfer coefficient is reliable and feasible, though it may not necessarily correlate with the theoretically derived values.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge with thanks the management of Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Research and Development Centre, Faridabad, India, and also authorities at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, for their kind permission to carry out the above study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. R&D Centre, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Faridabad, Haryana, India

    Umish Srivastva

  2. Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry, New Delhi, India

    R. K. Malhotra

  3. Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi, New Delhi, India

    S. C. Kaushik

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  1. Umish Srivastva
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  2. R. K. Malhotra
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  3. S. C. Kaushik
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Correspondence to Umish Srivastva.

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Srivastva, U., Malhotra, R.K. & Kaushik, S.C. Experimental investigation of convective heat transfer properties of synthetic fluid. J Therm Anal Calorim 132, 709–724 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-6961-0

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