‫محاضرة االسبوع الخامس‬

Nov. 9
Second: Heat Transfer Correlations

For Flow Boiling Heat transfer

The pool boiling we considered so far involves a pool of motionless

liquid, with vapour bubbles rising to the top as a result of buoyancy effects.

In flow boiling, the fluid is forced to move by an external source such as a

pump as it undergoes a phase-change process. The boiling in this case shows
the combined effects of convection and pool boiling.
The flow boiling is also classified as either:
- External and
- Internal flow boiling depending on whether
the fluid is forced to flow over a heated surface or inside a heated tube.
External flow boiling

External flow boiling over a plate or cylinder is similar to pool boiling, but
the added motion increases both the nucleate boiling heat flux and the critical
heat flux considerably, as shown in Figure 8.

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Fig 8: The effect of forced convection on external flow boiling for different
flow velocities.

Note that:
- The higher the velocity, the higher the nucleate boiling heat flux and
the critical heat flux. In experiments with water, critical heat flux
values as high as 35 MW/m2 have been obtained (compare this to the
pool boiling value of 1.3 MW/m2 at 1 atm pressure) by increasing the
fluid velocity.
Internal flow boiling
Internal flow boiling is much more complicated in nature because there is
no free surface for the vapour to escape, and thus both the liquid and the

vapour are forced to flow together. The two-phase flow in a tube shows

different flow boiling regimes, depending on the relative amounts of the liquid

and the vapor phases. This complicates the analysis even further.
The different stages encountered in flow boiling in a heated tube are illustrated
in Figure 9 together with the variation of the heat transfer coefficient
along the tube.

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Fig: 9 Different flow regimes encountered in flow boiling in a tube under
forced convection.

- Forced convection regime: Initially, the liquid is subcooled and

heat transfer to the liquid is by forced convection.
- Bubbly Flow Regime: The bubbles start forming on the inner
surfaces of the tube, and the detached bubbles are drafted into the
mainstream. This gives the fluid flow a bubbly appearance, and thus
the name bubbly flow regime.
- Slug Flow Regime: As the fluid is heated further, the bubbles grow
in size and eventually merge into slugs of vapour. Up to half of the
volume in the tube in this slug flow regime is occupied by vapour.

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 - Annular-flow Regime: After a while the core of the flow consists of
vapour only, and the liquid is confined only in the annular space
between the vapour core and the tube walls. This is the annular-flow
regime, and very high heat transfer coefficients are realized in this
regime.
- Transition Regime: As the heating continues, the annular liquid
layer gets thinner and thinner, and eventually dry spots start to appear
on the inner surfaces of the tube. The appearance of dry spots is
accompanied by a sharp decrease in the heat transfer coefficient. This
transition regime continues until the inner surface of the tube is
completely dry.
- Mist-Flow Regime: Any liquid at this moment is in the form of
droplets suspended in the vapour core, which like a mist, and we have
a mist-flow regime until all the liquid droplets are vaporized.
- Forced convection Regime: Again into normal forced convection
of vapour.
-
Note that the tube contains a liquid before the bubbly flow regime and a

vapour after the mist-flow regime. Heat transfer in those two cases can be
determined using the appropriate relations for single-phase convection heat
transfer.
Many correlations are proposed for the determination of heat transfer
in the two-phase flow (bubbly flow, slug-flow, annular-flow, and mist-flow)
cases, but they are beyond the scope of this introductory text. A crude estimate
for heat flux in flow boiling can be obtained by simply adding the forced
convection and pool boiling heat fluxes.
(q/A) total = (q/A) convection + (q/A) boiling

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 ‫المحاضرة الثانية‬
Nov.11
Simplified Relations for Boiling Heat Transfer with water

Many empirical relations have been developed to estimate the boiling heat-
transfer coefficients for water.
For water boiling on the outside of submerged surfaces at atmospheric
pressure.
These heat-transfer coefficients may be modified to take into account the
influence of pressure by using the empirical relation:

Where
hp = heat-transfer coefficient at some pressure p
h1 = heat-transfer coefficient at atmospheric pressure as determined from
Table (1)
p = system pressure
p1 = standard atmospheric pressure

Table (1) Simplified relations for boiling heat-transfer coefficients to water at

atmospheric pressure,T = T x=Tw −Tsat , ◦C.

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For forced-convection local boiling inside vertical tubes the following
relation is recommended:

where
Tx = temperature difference between the surface and saturated liquid in
degrees Celsius and
P= the pressure in MPa.
The heat-transfer coefficient has the units of watts per square meter per degree
Celsius. Above equation is valid over a pressure range of 5 to 170 atm.

Applications of Boiling Heat transfer

Today’s modern electronics devices generate heat that often cannot be

managed by traditional heatsinks and airflow. With its ability to transfer and
dissipate heat, the heat pipe plays a crucial role in cooling many modern
sensitive electronic systems. Also, it is used in air conditioning and refrigeration
applications, aircraft cooling and in industrial processes.

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The Heat Pipe

Figure 10: Heat Pipe

A device that makes use of change-of-phase heat transfer in abnormal way is

the heat pipe, illustrated in Figure 10 for a horizontal position.

A heat pipe is a metal hollow tube with small amount of fluid and sealed under
partial vacuum. The pipe is covered with an inner wick lining (capillary
material). The liquid permeates the wicking material by capillary action.

When heat is added to one end of the pipe (the evaporator), liquid is vaporized
in the wick and the vapor moves to the central core. This phase change from
fluid to vapour creates pressure. As pressure increases, vapour will naturally
flow into the cooler section.

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At the other end of the pipe, heat is removed (the condenser) and the vapor
condenses back into the wick. The fluid will then flow back into the warm
region (evaporator) by capillary action similar to the way that water is sucked
into a sponge. The cycle will repeat (as long as there is heat applied).

Notes
- The pressure difference between the liquid and vapour at any location
on the interface is known as the capillary pressure, ΔPc.
- Wicking is an essential feature of all sportswear - the action of
drawing moisture away from the skin in order to keep the skin dry and
comfortable to optimise performance.

Several combinations of fluid and pipe materials have been used for heat-
pipe construction, and some typical operating characteristics are summarized in
Table (2).
To obtain high heat fluxes; research efforts are being devoted to optimum wick
designs, novel configurations for specialized applications, etc. A number of
wick materials have been employed in practice such as (Cotton, Silica Cord,
Ceramic, Stainless Steel Mesh, Rayon …etc.)

Table (2): Typical axial heat fluxes for heat pipes.

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Tilting Heat Pipe
Although the basic concept will work in the absence of gravity, the heat pipe
may be tilted so that the condenser is at a higher elevation than the evaporator.
In this case, the action of gravity serves to speed the flow of liquid down
through the wicking material. This is called a favorable tilt.
In contrast, when the condenser is placed at a lower elevation than the
evaporator the action of gravity will resist the flow of liquid in the wick and the
heat pipe is said to have an adverse tilt.

Operational life
No moving parts or corrosive materials inside heat pipes. The working fluid and
wick structures permanently sealed in a copper vessel. No mechanical or
chemical degradation over time that has been reported by customers.
Typical operational life is ~20 years..