Author : Satish Choudhary, Bhupendra Gupta, Anand Bisen and Anil Kumar

 
Two-phase flow distribution of water and air was experimentally investigated in a parallel flow heat exchanger comprised of two horizontal headers and twenty five vertical channels. Most of the flow in the header inlet was identified as stratified flow. Both upward and downward configurations were tested. The effect of tube protrusion depth was also investigated. It was observed that, for downward flow, most of the liquid was extracted from the frontal part of the header. For upward flow, on the contrary, significant portion of liquid was forced to rear part of the header.The air and water flow distribution are experimentally studied for a round header– flat tube geometry simulating a parallel flow heat exchanger. The number of branch flat tube is 25. The effects of tube outlet direction, tube protrusion depth and quality are investigated. The flow at the header inlet is identified as annular. For the downward flow configuration, the water flow distribution is significantly affected by the tube protrusion depth. For flush-mounted configuration, most of the water flows through frontal part of the header. As the protrusion depth increases, more water is forced to the rear part of the header. The effect of mass flux or quality is qualitatively the same as that of the protrusion depth. Increase of the mass flux or quality forces the water to rear part of the header.

Keyword: Air flow measurement, Water flow measurement, Aluminum pipe, Downward flow, Experimental approach.

Article published in International Journal of Current  Engineering  and Technology, Vol.3,No.3(Aug- 2013)