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The flow and heat transfer characteristics of helical baffle heat exchangers with diverse inclined angles and baffles, but similar baffle pitch and tube layout, were numerically simulated, three using non-continuous trisection baffles, two using non-continuous quadrant baffles, and one using a continuous helical baffle. The results show that, under the same operating conditions, the 20°TCO (trisection circumferential overlap baffles with 20° inclined angle) structure can significantly enhance shell side heat transfer with strong Dean vortex 'secondary flow' and restrained V-notch leakage, because the shapes of trisection baffles are very suitable to equilateral triangle tube layout and there is a row of tubes to dampen the leakage flow in each circumferential overlapped area of adjacent baffles. The shell side Nusselt Number Nuo and comprehensive index ( Nuo/ Euz,o1/3) of 20°TCO structure are 18.31 %, 25.82 %, 5.93 %, 6.36 %, and 15.04 %, and 15.43 %, 18.47 %, 5.30 %, 3.91 %, and 11.10 % higher than those of the 20°TEE (trisection end-to-end baffles with 20° inclined angle), 36.2°TMO (trisection middle overlap baffles with 36.2° inclined angle), 18°QCO (quadrant circumferential overlap baffles with 18° inclined angle), 18°QEE (quadrant end-to-end baffles with 18° inclined angle), and 18.4°CH (continuous helical baffle with 18.4° helical angle) structures, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A visualization study is conducted to investigate condensation flow in wide rectangular silicon microchannels with the hydraulic diameter of 90.6 μm and width/depth ratio of 9.668. Droplet-annular compound flow, injection flow, and vapor slug-bubbly flow are observed along the channel, which differ from that in other cross-sectional shape microchannels. In the droplet-annular compound flow region, the vertical walls (short side) of the channel are completely covered by the condensate, while droplet condensation still exists on the horizontal wall (long side) of the channel. The location of the injection flow will be postponed with the increasing inlet vapor Reynolds number. The injection frequency will increase with the increasing inlet vapor Reynolds number and condensate Weber number. More specifically, the frequency in the wide rectangular microchannels is lower than that in triangular microchannels having the same hydraulic diameter. It is confirmed that the cross-sectional shape of the microchannel plays a significant role on the instability of condensation flow. In addition, the correlation of Nusselt number is also presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The feed water heaters in power plants are actually the condensers using turbine extracting steam to heat feed water. The vertical feed water heater occupies less area than the horizontal one and convenient to lift tube bundles out in maintenance. However, the lower heat transfer coefficient due to thick condensate film limits its application. A novel trisection helical baffled vertical condenser (feed water heater) is proposed with liquid dams and gaps for facilitating condensate drainage. The flow and condensation heat transfer characters of two vertical condensers with variable angled trisection helical baffles of both single-thread and dual-threads and a variable spanned segmental baffled one were numerically studied with Mixture model of Fluent software. The distributions of velocity, pressure, volume fraction of condensate, and local heat transfer coefficient in these heat exchangers were demonstrated. The simulation results show that the inclined baffles with liquid dam and drainage gaps could drain condensate effectively from tube bundle surfaces and prevent liquid film from entraining into vapor, and that the variable angled trisection helical baffled vertical condenser with dual-threads could greatly improve the condensation heat transfer coefficient up to 35.7% higher than that of the variable spanned segmental baffled one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The power plant feedwater heaters and the countercurrent U-tube heat exchangers all involve half-cylindrical shell space. • Half-cylindrical space heat exchangers with ladder helical, orifice and segmental baffles were experimentally investigated. • The ladder helical baffle scheme has superior heat transfer coefficient and comprehensive index than those of the other ones. • The orifice baffle scheme has higher comprehensive index but lower heat transfer coefficient than those of segmental ones. • The average values of h o Δ p o −1/3 of ladder helical and orifice baffle schemes are about 15% higher than that of segmental one. The superheated steam cooling section and the condensate cooling section of the power plant feedwater heaters and the countercurrent U-tube heat exchangers all involve heat transfer in half-cylindrical shell space. The overall and shell-side heat transfer coefficients (h.t.cs.), pressure drop, and the comprehensive performances of some half-cylindrical space heat exchangers with different baffle structures were experimentally investigated. The investigated structures include three ladder helical baffle types [single inclined ladder helical (SH), dual inclined ladder helical (DH) and folded ladder helical (FH)], three orifice baffle types [fillet triangle orifice (F), trefoil-orifice (T) and quatrefoil-orifice (Q)], and segmental baffles (S), and all schemes are of two baffle pitches. Under the same baffle pitch and working condition, the experimental results show that the shell-side h.t.cs. of the ladder helical baffle schemes are higher than those of the orifice baffle schemes and segmental baffle ones; and the shell-side pressure drops of the orifice baffle schemes are much lower than those of the ladder helical baffle schemes and the segmental ones. The values of average comprehensive index h o Δ p o −1/3 of the ladder helical schemes FH-40, DH-40 and the orifice baffle schemes F-40 and T-40 are respectively 14.26%, 17.58%, 15.62% and 12.82% higher than that of the segmental scheme S-40. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel helical baffle with small inclined angle and folded structure is proposed. • The new helical baffles can be created by cheap 2D laser cutting and folding. • The leakage between two folded helical baffles can be greatly decreased. • The novel electric heaters have excellent flow and heat transfer performances. • Folded helical baffles are more excellent at large equivalent angles in this work. The difficult manufacturing of helical baffles hinders the widespread application of the enhancement technology and the shortcut leakage between adjacent baffles impairs the enhancement effects. To solve these two issues, the promising anti-leakage and easy-to-manufacture helical baffles with small inclined angle and folded structure are proposed, which can be produced by 2D laser cutting and simple mechanical folding. The influence of different helical baffle configurations, including three normal helical schemes, three axial separation helical schemes, three novel folded axial separation helical baffle schemes and a segmental scheme on the performance of electric heaters are numerically investigated. The equivalent angles of helical schemes adopted in this work are 15°, 20° and 25°, and the inclined angle of helical baffles under axial separation connection style is 10°. Compared with the corresponding axial separation scheme without folding, the leakage can be significantly decreased, the heat transfer coefficients h and the comprehensive indices h ⋅Δ p −1/3 of FH15(10)°, FH20(10)° and FH25(10)° are increased by 6.5%/2.3%, 12.2%/7.3% and 20.4%/13.0%, and the averaged tube wall temperatures T w are decreased by 12.5 K, 25.4 K and 54.7 K, respectively. This research can provide feasibility for the extended application of helical baffles in electric heaters or heat exchangers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel square-tube-layout coupling-vortex scheme is proposed in TETHX. • More uniform temperature fields are observed in coupling-vortex schemes. • Nu, f reduce but Nu∙f −1/3 rises with rising S , but all increase with rising A / B. • The smaller S and the closer A / B is to 1, the more obvious advantage of TETHX-CV. • Nu / f / Nu ∙ f −1/3 of C12.3S50 are 12.8%/15.2%/7.6% higher than those of P12.3S50. The twisted elliptical tube heat exchangers with the novel coupling-vortex chessboard tube layout (TETHXs-CV) were simulated with the RNG k - ε model in software Fluent 15.0. The shell-side flow pattern at the tangential points between adjacent tubes in traditional TETHX is countercurrent while that in TETHX-CV is concurrent, which helps enhance heat transfer capability without any extra manufacturing cost. The impacts of the ratio A / B of the major axis to the minor axis and the twist pitch S were also investigated. The results indicate that with the increase of A / B and the decrease of S , the secondary flow behaves more intensely, the Nusselt number Nu and the friction factor f increase, while with the increase of A / B and S , the comprehensive evaluation index Nu∙f −1/3 increases. The Nu, f and Nu ∙ f −1/3 of all twisted tube schemes are higher than those of the smooth round tube schemes R10.8. Compared with corresponding parallel-vortex schemes, the coupling-vortex schemes possess more uniform temperature fields, and the average Nu, f and Nu ∙ f −1/3 of the coupling-vortex schemes C12.3S50/C12.3S100 increase by 12.8%/9.9%, 15.2%/10.5% and 7.6%/6.3%, respectively; the smaller S or the closer A / B is to 1, the more advantageous the TETHX-CV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A three-dimensional model of heat transfer and fluid flow in noncircular microchannel heat sinks is developed and analyzed numerically. It is found that Nusselt number has a much higher value at the inlet region, but quickly approaches the constant fully developed value. The temperature in both solid and fluid increases along the flow direction. In addition, the comparison of thermal efficiencies is conducted among triangular, rectangular and trapezoidal microchannels. The result indicates that the triangular microchannel has the highest thermal efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A visualization experiment is conducted to investigate the condensation of steam in a series of triangular silicon microchannels. The results indicate that droplet, annular, injection and slug-bubbly flow are the dominant flow patterns in these triangular silicon microchannels. With increased mass flow rate, or an increase in the hydraulic diameter under the same Reynolds number, the location at which the injection occurred is observed to move towards the channel outlet. The frequency of the injection increases, i.e. the flow of condensation instability is higher with increased inlet vapor Reynolds number, condensate Weber number and the prolongation of the injection location, or with a decrease in the hydraulic diameter of the channel. In addition, the wall temperature of the channel decreases along the condensation stream. The total pressure drop, the average condensation heat transfer coefficient and the average Nusselt number are observed to be larger with increased inlet vapor Reynolds number. Moreover, it is found that the condensation heat transfer is enhanced by a reduction in the channel scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A theoretical model of fluid flow and heat transfer in a heat pipe with axial “Ω”-shaped grooves has been conducted to study the maximum heat transport capability of these types of heat pipes. The influence of variations in the capillary radius, liquid–vapor interfacial shear stress and the contact angle are all considered and analyzed. The effect of vapor core and wick structure on the fluid flow characteristics and the effect of the heat load on the capillary radius at the evaporator end cap, as well as the effect of the wick structure on the heat transfer performance are all analyzed numerically and discussed. The axial distribution of the capillary radius, fluid pressure and mean velocity are obtained. In addition, the calculated maximum heat transport capability of the heat pipe at different working temperatures is compared with that obtained from a traditional capillary pressure balance model, in which the interfacial shear stress is neglected. The accuracy of the present model is verified by experimental data obtained in this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Coupling-vortex triangular tube layout is proposed without extra manufacturing cost. • Concurrent flow, larger A / B and smaller S cause stronger secondary flow. • The Nu and Nu · f −1/3 of C14.2S50 is 132.8% and 47.1% higher than R10.8. • Smaller S and smaller A / B lead to greater advantage of TETHXs-AVRCV. • The averaged Nu / Nu · f −1/3 of C12.3S50 are 7.8%/4.9% higher than those of P12.3S50. An innovative alternating V-rows triangular tube layout was devised for the twisted elliptical tube heat exchangers to enhance heat transfer between adjacent tubes. Under the same tube circumference, altogether eleven twisted elliptical tube heat exchangers with two tube layouts, diverse aspect ratios of twisted elliptical tubes and different twisted pitches were constructed and simulated, including five coupling-vortex schemes, five parallel-vortex schemes and a smooth round tube scheme R10.8. Water with constant physical properties was adopted as the working fluid. Shell-side Reynolds number varies from 2000 to 10,000. The results show that the concurrent flow and the irregular channel in coupling-vortex schemes, and the larger aspect ratio and the smaller twisted pitch of twisted elliptical tubes help intensify turbulence and secondary flow. Compared with R10.8, the averaged Nu and Nu · f −1/3 of coupling-vortex scheme C14.2S50 are improved by 132.8% and 47.1%, respectively. Under shorter twisted pitch, smaller aspect ratio and lower Reynolds number, coupling-vortex schemes can acquire superior heat transfer capability than corresponding parallel-vortex schemes but will not increase manufacturing cost. Compared with P12.3S50, the maximum and averaged Nu of C12.3S50 are increased by 9.5% and 7.8% while the maximum and averaged Nu · f −1/3 are increased by 6.4% and 4.9%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]