Heat Transfer Research

ISSN for PRINT: 1064-2285

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2008, Volume39

Issue 3

92 pages

DOI: 10.1615/HeatTransRes.v39.i3

Issue price - $372.00

Prabhakara Rao Bobbili
Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburg, EH14 4AS, UK

Bengt Sunden
Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University

An experimental investigation has been carried out to find the pressure difference of the process of steam condensation across the port to channel in plate heat exchangers. In the present study, low corrugation angle (30°) plates have been used for different number of channels, namely, 10 and 80. The process steam entered at 1 bar with a small degree of superheat. Water has been used as the cold fluid. The pressure probes are inserted through the plate gasket into both the inlet and exit ports of the channel. The pressure drop of the process steam has been measured and recorded at the first, middle, and last channels at different flow and exit conditions for each plate package of the heat exchanger. Also, the overall pressure drop has been measured at different conditions at the outlet of the process steam, i.e., full and partial condensation. The pressure drop measurements have indicated that there is a considerable variation in pressure drop from the first channel to the last channel due to flow maldistribution. The experimental data has been analyzed to show how the flow maldistribution affects the pressure drop of a plate condenser.

DOI: 10.1615/HeatTransRes.v39.i3.20 Download article, 197-210 pages

Article price - $55.00

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