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An experimental study is described in which time-averaged local heat transfer coefficients were obtained for arrays of horizontal tubes immersed in a hot fluidized bed. Bed temperatures up to 1005 K were achieved. Bed particle sizes of 2.14 mm and 3.23 mm nominal diameter were employed. An array of nine tubes arranged in three horizontal rows was used. The 50.8 mm (2 in.) diameter tubes were arranged in an equilateral triangular configuration with 15.24 cm (6 in.) spacing between centers. The center tube in each of the three rows in the array was instrumented providing data for local heat flux and surface temperature at intervals of 30 deg from the bottom to the top—a total of seven sets of values for each of the center tubes. The three sets of data are representative of the heat transfer behavior of tubes at the bottom, top, and in the interior of a typical array. Data were also obtained for a single horizontal tube to compare with the results of tube bundle performance. Superficial velocities of high-temperature air ranged from the packed-bed condition through approximately twice the minimum fluidization level. Comparisons with results for a single tube in a bubbling bed indicate only slight effects on local heat transfer resulting from the presence of adjacent tubes. Tubes in the bottom, top, and interior rows also exhibited different heat transfer performance.

An experimental program was conducted to study natural convection heat transfer in an array of uniformly heated vertical cylinders in mercury. The cylinders were arranged in an equilateral triangular pattern, and three bundle spacings, P/D = 1.5, 1.3, and 1.1, were studied. The heat transfer results are presented as local Nusselt number—modified Grashof number correlations. The results indicate a strong dependence on cylinder spacing and the somewhat lesser effects of heat flux and circumferential position. In addition, mean radial temperature profiles were recorded for various conditions as well as the fluctuations in the fluid temperatures which were encountered. The influence of cylinder spacing and axial, radial, and circumferential position on these profiles and disturbances is discussed.

An experimental program was conducted to study the heat transfer characteristics of mercury in laminar natural convection flow within a vertical open-ended channel over a range of channel widths. Two sets of boundary conditions were investigated separately: (1) uniform heat flux at one wall with the other insulated, and (2) both walls symmetrically and uniformly heated. A decrease in channel width caused a decrease in channel wall temperature in the developing portion of the flow. This unexpected phenomenon persisted until the channel height-to-width ratio, Ar, reached a value greater than 18. Hence, the buoyancy induced flow of a low Prandtl number fluid in a channel is more thermally efficient than a single heated plate. Temperature data have been correlated into local Nusselt versus modified Grashof number plots, based on streamwise position, for several aspect ratios. The effect of aspect ratio on channel temperature is displayed on NuL versus Ar curves for several GrL*. The infinite spacing limit is compared to previous work with temperature profiles and local heat transfer results. Expressions for local and average heat transfer correlations are presented, with suggested limits on their application. The effect of flow in from the sides of the channel was investigated by affixing plastic side plates to the channel.

An experimental investigation of laminar natural convection heat transfer from a uniformly heated vertical cylinder immersed in an effectively infinite pool of mercury is described. A correlation was developed for the local Nusselt number as a function of local modified Grashof number for each cylinder. A single equation incorporating the diameter-to-length ratio was formulated that satisfied the data for all three cylinders. An expression derived by extrapolation of the results to zero curvature (the flat plate condition) was found to agree favorably with others’ work, both analytical and experimental. The influence of curvature upon the heat transfer was found to be small but significant. It was established that the effective thermal resistance through the boundary layer is less for a cylinder of finite curvature than for a flat plate. Consequently, local heat transfer coefficients for cylinders are larger than those for flat plates operating under identical conditions.

The effects of square and reentrant entrances on flow regimes (no “appreciable” separation, large transitory stall, and fully developed two-dimensional stall) and local heat-transfer coefficients were determined with air flowing through a symmetrical, plane-wall, two-dimensional subsonic diffuser with one of the diverging walls heated and maintained isothermal. Flow and heat-transfer studies were made for the following ranges: 2θ = 0 to 45 deg, L/W = 6 to 18, and Rextut = 4 × 104 to 3 × 105. Results indicated that 2θ, L/W, and entrance configuration greatly affected the flow regime and heat transfer. Equations relating Um′ to Ut, Ur to Ut, and equations of the type Nu = C Pr0.6Rex0.8 are presented. For the configurations tested, heat-transfer rates were greater for reentrant than for square entrances.