Enhanced Boiling Outside 8 × 3 Plain and Coated Tube Bundles

Abstract

Experiments were conducted for pool boiling on the outside of 8 × 3 (eight rows and three columns) plain and coated tube (surface roughness = 8.279 μm) bundles for three different pitch distances with the distinct objective to study the behavior and the enhancement of boiling heat transfer in horizontal staggered tube bundles (of plain and coated tubes for different equilateral triangular arrangements) with heat flux values ranging from ∼12 to 45 kW/m2. At higher heat fluxes, coated and plain tube bundles had almost similar bundle average heat transfer coefficients at a given pitch distance, while at lower heat fluxes, the coated tube bundles have higher bundle average heat transfer coefficients as compared to that of the plain tube bundle. The coated tube bundles with the minimum pitch to diameter ratio of 1.4 exhibited the maximum bundle average heat transfer coefficients. The present study concludes that the bundle factor needs to be considered in the design of flooded evaporators.