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The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime

Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2017.

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Other Authors: Meyer, Josua P.
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2017
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Meyer, Josua P.
author_browse Meyer, Josua P.
author_facet Meyer, Josua P.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/62788
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:37.921Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2017
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publisher University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/62788 The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime Meyer, Josua P. u10693280@tuks.co.za Pallent, Leslie Matthew James UCTD Multiple tube-inlet condition Heat transfer Transitional flow regime Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07 SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13 SDG-13: Climate action Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2017. In the industrial design of heat exchangers, engineers have long followed the general rule of avoiding transitional flow, and have rather designed a system operating in the turbulent flow regime. Whilst the turbulent regime is better for heat transfer, the higher friction inside the tube results in a much higher pressure drop which inevitably results in the system requiring a more powerful pump than if the system were to operate in the laminar regime. Designing a heat exchanger that operates in the turbulent flow regime is often the safer option, since little published design data is available for flow in the transitional flow regime, giving rise to numerous unwanted uncertainties during the design phase. Recent research into the transitional flow regime has resulted in promising experimental data that shows the regime is not as unstable as previously suspected. The regime allows for higher heat transfer than flows in the laminar regime, yet lower pressure drops than flows in the turbulent regime. Numerous investigations have previously been performed on a single uniformly heated tube operating in the transitional flow regime, however, there exists no data on the influence of a multiple tube inlet condition, as typically found in shell and tube heat exchangers, on the heat transfer characteristics. The purpose of this study was thus to determine the influence of varying tube pitch ratios on the fully developed heat transfer characteristics of three smooth circular horizontal tubes. An experimental set up was designed and built to accommodate a single tube heat exchanger used for validation purposes, and a multiple tube heat exchanger comprising of three identical and equally spaced tubes. Using a DC power supply, the tubes were uniformly heated at 2, 3 and 4 kW/m2 along the length of the test section. The heat transfer characteristics were determined experimentally for outer diameter tube pitch ratios of 1.25 and 1.5 of three 4 mm inner diameter tubes, each 6 m in length for a range of Reynolds numbers of 1 000 to 7 000. Water was used as the test fluid. Using PT100 probes and thermocouples at the inlet, outlet and outer surface of the test section, it was found that the presence of multiple tubes at the inlet of the heat exchanger for a pitch ratio of 1.25 promoted the onset of transition for the centre tube, and sharpened the transition gradient of the outer tubes. This effect noticeably increased with increasing heat flux and was absent at the higher pitch ratio of 1.5. mi2025 Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering MEng Unrestricted SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure SDG-13: Climate action 2017-10-13T13:41:22Z 2017-10-13T13:41:22Z 2017-09-08 2017 Dissertation Pallent, LMJ 2017, The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime, MEng Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62788> S2017 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62788 © 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Multiple tube-inlet condition
Heat transfer
Transitional flow regime
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07
SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13
SDG-13: Climate action
The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime
title The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime
title_full The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime
title_fullStr The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime
title_full_unstemmed The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime
title_short The influence of a multiple tube-inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime
title_sort influence of a multiple tube inlet condition on heat transfer in the transitional flow regime
topic UCTD
Multiple tube-inlet condition
Heat transfer
Transitional flow regime
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07
SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13
SDG-13: Climate action
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62788