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MOHAMED E. ALI
QUERY SHEET
MOHAMED E. ALI
Mechanical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
An experimental study has been conducted on steady-state natural convection heat transfer from vertical helical coil tubes in
heat transfer oil of a Prandtl number range of 250–400. Fifteen coils are used in this experiment. These coils are classified
into five groups; each group has a specified coil diameter-to-tube diameter ratio for two, five, and ten turns. The helix coil
to tube diameter ratio are 30, 20.83, 17.5, 13.33, and 10. The heat transfer data were generated and correlated using coil
5 length as a characteristic length. Correlations are presented to calculate the average Nusselt number in terms of Rayleigh
number for each group of coils, and an overall correlation covering all the coils is obtained. Furthermore, two more general
correlations covering the current data and those of Ali [1] are obtained, and the results show that the average Nusselt number
for oil is higher than that for water at the same Grashof number.
INTRODUCTION the overall average Nusselt number for the coils oriented verti-
cally or horizontally. Ali [3] has reported an experimental study
10 Helical coiled tubes are used in many engineering applica- on laminar natural convection heat transfer from horizontal coils
tions, such as heating, refrigerating, and HVAC systems. They in air. The experiment was carried out for four coils heated elec-
are used also in steam generator and condenser design in power trically by constant heat flux of 500–5000 W/m2 . The developed 35
plants because of their large surface area per unit volume. In correlation for the average heat transfer coefficient shows that in
spite of their widespread use, the literature available on the fun- the laminar regime, the heat transfer coefficient decreases with
15 damentals of natural convection from such coils is limited. The increasing the number of coil turns, and it has wavy variations
first experiment to deal with the subject is a study by Ali [1], who in the transition regime. Furthermore, an experimental study of
developed correlations for natural convection from vertical heli- two sets of coils oriented vertically in air was reported by Ali 40
cal coils in water over a Prandtl number range 3.44 ≤ Pr ≤ 5.30. [4]. His first set of coils has a constant surface heat flux, and the
In this experiment, ten coils were used, with four coil diameter- developed correlations showed a Nusselt number dependence on
20 to-tube diameter ratios and five pitch-to-tube diameter ratios. the heat flux when the tube diameter is used as a characteristic
It was concluded that the average heat transfer coefficient de- length. On the other hand, when the coil axial distance is used as
creases with an increasing coil length for tube diameter d = a characteristic length in the correlation of the first set of coils, 45
0.012 m but increases with an increasing coil length for d = all of the data were collapsed to one unique curve independent of
0.008 m. For comparison, the correlation for d = 0.012 m, using the heat flux. Recently, Ali [5] reported an experimental inves-
25 the coil length as a characteristic length, is cited: tigation of laminar- and transition-free convection heat transfer
from the outer surface of helical pipes with a finite pitch ori-
NuL = 0.685 Ra0.295
L , 3 × 1012 ≤ RaL ≤ 8 × 1014 (1) ented vertically in a 57% glycerol-water solution by mass. His 50
Xin and Ebadian [2] reported an experimental study on lami- experimental ambient solution has a Prandtl number range of
nar natural convection heat transfer from helicoidal pipes in air 28–36. More recently, an experimental study was reported by
in vertical and horizontal orientations. In their experiment, three Prabhanjan et al. [6] for vertical coils in a hot water medium
test coils were used, and the heat transfer data were generated by using three coils and different characteristic length. They con-
30 heating the coil electrically, two correlations were developed for cluded that their correlation for these coils did not have a high 55
correlation coefficient, and further study is required to develop
Address correspondence to Dr. Mohamed E. Ali, Mechanical Engineering
better Nusselt number relations to cover a wide range of sizes
and configurations. However, their experimental study shows a
Q1 Department, King Saud University, O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia.
E-mail: mali@ksu.edu.sa good method to predict the outlet temperature from the coils.
1
December 9, 2005 16:6 806 TFJF307-03-145844
2 M. E. ALI
60 Furthermore, many experiments have been reported to study Table 1 Physical dimensions of the test coils
the turbulent heat transfer coefficient inside the coils using the
Coil no. di (m) do (m) Ds (m) L (m) N D/do
criterion for transition to turbulent in curved pipes, which was
established by Ito [7]. Such an experiment is that by Rogers 1 0.011 0.012 0.360 11.314 10 30.0
and Mayhew [8], who used water flowing through steam-heated 2 0.011 0.012 0.360 5.657 5 30.0
3 0.011 0.012 0.360 2.263 2 30.0
65 tubes for D/di = 10.8, 13.3, and 20.1, and the following correla-
4 0.011 0.012 0.250 7.854 10 20.833
tion was developed to predict the inside heat transfer coefficient 5 0.011 0.012 0.250 3.929 5 20.833
0.1 6 0.011 0.012 0.250 1.571 2 20.833
di
Nudi = 0.023 Re0.85di Pr 0.4
(2) 7 0.011 0.012 0.210 6.600 10 17.50
D 8 0.011 0.012 0.210 3.300 5 17.50
9 0.011 0.012 0.210 1.320 2 17.50
This paper presents the results of the experimental investiga- 10 0.011 0.012 0.160 5.531 11 13.33
tion of natural convection heat transfer from the outer surface of 11 0.011 0.012 0.160 2.513 5 13.33
helical pipes with finite pitch oriented vertically in a heat transfer 12 0.011 0.012 0.160 1.006 2 13.33
13 0.011 0.012 0.120 3.770 10 10.00
70 oil of Prandtl number range 250 ≤ Pr ≤ 400. However, because
14 0.011 0.012 0.120 1.886 5 10.00
the experiments of Ali [1, 5] are for a Prandtl number of order 15 0.011 0.012 0.120 0.754 2 10.00
10, the present experimental study is focused on a high Prandtl
number of order 100 in order to obtain an overall correlation
using the Prandtl number as a parameter.
and the helix coil diameter is obtained from the following equa-
tion:
P 2
75 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE N
i = 1 Ds − π
2
D= (3)
In these experiments, the coil is heated by pumping through N
turbulent hot water. The temperature at the inlet and exit from the The effective coil length was measured before forming it, and 90
coil is measured when the steady state is reached. A schematic of the coil turns are separated from each other using plexiglas spac-
the test coil showing the thermistor locations and the coil dimen- ers with a specific length to fix the pitch of the coil such that the
80 sions is sketched in Figure 1. The test coil is fixed in an ambient ratio of P/do is fixed (=2.5) for all the test coils. The temperature
temperature bath (0.76 × 0.76 × 0.98 m3 ), which serves as a of the hot water tank is heated to a maximum of 80◦ C before
coolant. This ambient bath has a Petromin heat transfer oil [9]. entering the test coil, and readings are taking every 5◦ C for each 95
The coils are formed initially from straight tubing (brass 70% run. The experiments are designed such that the outer (exter-
Cu and 30% Zn, with thermal conductivity k = 111 Wm−1 k−1 , nal tubeside) overall average heat transfer coefficient, can be Q2
85 [10]). The physical dimensions of the test coils are given in calculated using the measured temperatures, the predicted inner
Table 1. To allow for the obliquity of the helix, the slanted outer (internal tubeside) heat transfer coefficient, and the coil-known
turn diameter Ds for each turn is measured using a vernier caliper, thermal conductivity. The volume flow rate of water inside the 100
tubes is 0.833 × 10−4 m3 /s and the corresponding estimated
minimum Reynolds number is 14417. This Reynolds number
ensures that the flow inside the coil is turbulent when compared
to the critical Reynolds number of flow in helices (Rec = 7386
at the same diameter ratio) [11]. 105
ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENT
where Q is the heat loss from the coil, ṁ is the hot water flow
rate, (tc )in is the coil inlet temperature, (tc )out is the coil outlet
Figure 1 Schematic of the coils used showing the physical dimensions and temperature, and c is the hot water-specific heat. Having obtained
thermistor locations. a value for the heat transfer rate Q, the thermal resistance Rth is
heat transfer engineering vol. 27 no. 3 2006
December 9, 2005 16:6 806 TFJF307-03-145844
M. E. ALI 3
Figure 3 Viscosity calibrations of the Petromin heat transfer oil used in the
Figure 2 Density calibrations of the Petromin heat transfer oil used in the Experiment, ν= 8.4e-5–(2.33e-6) t + (1.84e-8) t2 + (2.0e-12) t3 .
experiment, ρ = 873.7 − 0.7 t.
minimum temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of
115 calculated from the coils of 0.4◦ C. The average Nusselt and Rayleigh numbers
tlm (tc )in − (tc )out were generated using the coil length as a characteristic length to 140
Q = , tlm = (5) determine the range of the Rayleigh and Nusselt numbers and
Rth in − ta
ln (t(tcc))out − ta its relation to the region of natural convection.
and Rth is defined as
4 M. E. ALI
It can be seen from this figure that the Nusselt number increases
as the Rayleigh number increases, and in spite of the fact that
the heat transfer rate to the ambient medium (heat transfer oil)
is directly proportional to the number of turns, the heat transfer
coefficient is inversely proportional to the number of turns, as Figure 6 Average Nusselt number for the test coils number 10, 11, and 12
160
for D/do = 13.33, solid line presents the correlation given by Eq. (10) with
will be seen later. The reason for that could be attributed to the
constants a and b given in Table 2.
fact that the plume rises from the lowest to the highest turns
successively, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the upper that
turns [14]. In other words, the plume from the lower turns has
165 two effects on the heat transfer of the upper turns. First, the ho ∝ L−0.031 (9)
plume makes the boundary layer thicker on the next turn and
reduces the heat transfer. Second, the plume provides an initial Therefore, ho decreases as the coil length increases, which sug-
velocity and increases the intensity of the flow to be turbulence gests that the convection regime is similar in laminar to the verti- Q3
for the next turn, which could improve the heat transfer from the cal cylinder in different fluids [15] and for vertical coils in water
upper turns. However, the first effect is dominated, which makes [1]. The laminar regime is characterized by a decreasing heat 180
170
the average heat transfer coefficient from the ten turns coil to be transfer coefficient similar to natural convection from a flat plate
lower than that of five turns coil (see [2, 4]). [16].
Equation (8) agrees with the above discussion beacuse ho de- Figures 5–7 show similar results of the average Nusselt num-
creases as L increases. Consequently, to see the effect of the coil ber vs. Rayleigh number on a log-log scale for coil diameter
length on the average heat transfer coefficient, Eq. (8) suggests ratios 17.5, 13.33, and 10, respectively. The correlations cover- 185
175
ing the experimental data point is of the form:
NuL = a RabL (10)
Figure 5 Average Nusselt number for the test coils number 7, 8, and 9 for Figure 7 Average Nusselt number for the test coils number 13, 14, and 15 for
D/do = 17.5, solid line presents the correlation given by Eq. (10) with constants D/do = 10, solid line presents the correlation given by Eq. (10) with constants
a and b given in Table 2. a and b given in Table 2.
M. E. ALI 5
Figure 8 Average Nusselt number for the test coils number 4, 5, and 6 for Figure 10 Variation of average outer heat transfer coefficient h with coils,
D/do = 20.833, solid line presents the correlation given by Eq. (10) with con- outer surface area for different number of turns, showing the laminar and tran- Q4
stants a and b given in Table 2. sition regimes.
6 M. E. ALI
CONCLUSIONS
Figure 11 Average Nusselt number of the present data and those of Ali [1]
showing the overall correlation using Prandtl number as a parameter; solid lines
Experimental studies on steady-state natural convection heat 245
present the correlation given by Eq. (12). transfer from vertical helical coils in Petromin heat transfer oil
were performed. The following conclusions could be drawn:
NOMENCLATURE
A surface area, m2
a, b correlation fitted constants used in Eq. (10)
c specific heat, kJ kg−1 K−1 270
D helix coil diameter, m
d tube diameter, m
g acceleration due to gravity, m/s2
Gr Grashof number, gβ(t1 − ta )L3 ν−2
h heat transfer coefficient, kW m−2 K−1 275
k thermal conductivity, W m−1 K−1
L coil length, m
Figure 12 Average Nusselt number of the present data and those of Ali [1]
ṁ mass flow rate, kg/s
showing the overall correlation using Rayleigh number; solid line presents the N number of coil turns
correlation given by Eq. (13). Nu Nusselt number, h L/k 280
M. E. ALI 7
P coil pitch, m [4] Ali, M. E., Natural Convection from Vertical Helical Coiled Tubes
Pr Prandtl number, ν/α in Air, 33rd National Heat Transfer Conference, Paper # NHTC99-
P̄r average Prandtl number 114, August 15–17, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1999.
Q heat transfer rate, kW [5] Ali, M. E., Free Convection Heat Transfer From the Outer Sur- 320
285 R correlation coefficient face of Vertically Oriented Helical Coils in Glycerol-Water So-
lution, Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 40, no. 8, pp. 615–620,
Rth thermal resistance, K/W
2004.
Ra Rayleigh number, gβ (t1 − ta )L3 ν−1 α−1 [6] Prabhanjan, D. G., Rennie, T. J., and Vijaya Raghavan, G. S.,
Re Reynolds number, vdi /ν Natural Convection Heat Transfer from Helical Coiled Tubes, In- 325
t temperature,◦ C ternational Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 43, pp. 359–365,
290 t1 average temperature, 0.5 [(tc )in + (tc )out ], ◦ C 2004.
v water velocity inside coil, m/s [7] Ito, H., Friction Factors for Turbulent Flow in Curved Pipes, Trans.
ASME, D81, pp. 123–134, 1959. Q5
[8] Rogers, G. F., and Mayhew, Y. R., Heat Transfer and Pressure 330
Greek Symbols Loss in Helically Coiled Tubes with Turbulent Flow, Int. J. Heat
Mass Transfer, vol. 7, pp. 1207–1216, 1964.
α thermal diffusivity, m−2 s−1 [9] Saudi Arabian Lubricating Oil Co. (Petrolube), Petromin Oils
β coefficient for thermal expansion, K−1 Product Guide, pp. 95–96, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2002.
[10] Bejan, A., Heat Transfer, p. 464, Wiley, New York, 1993. 335
295 ρ density of the heat transfer oil, kg/m3
[11] Srinivasan, P. S., Nandapurkar, S. S., and Holland, F. A., Friction
θ bulk arithmetic mean temperature, ◦ C
Factors for Coils, Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng., vol. 48, pp. T156-T161,
ν kinematic viscosity, m−2 s−1 1970.
[12] Incropera, F. P., and DeWitt, D. P., Introduction to Heat Transfer,
3rd ed., p. 762, Wiley, New York, 1996. 340
Subscripts [13] Holman, J. P., Experimental Methods for Engineers, 5th ed., Ch.
3, McGraw Hill, 1989. Q6
a ambient medium (heat transfer oil) [14] Kern, D. Q., Process Heat Transfer, McGraw Hill, New York,
300 c coil 1950.
i inner [15] Fujii, T., Takeuchi, M., Fujii, M., Suzaki, K., and Uehara, H., Ex- 345
in inlet periments on Natural-Convection Heat Transfer from the Outer
L characteristic length Surface of a Vertical Cylinder to Liquids, Int. J. Heat Mass Trans-
lm logarithmic mean fer, vol. 13, pp. 753–787, 1970.
[16] Burmeister, L. C., Convection Heat Transfer, Wiley, New York,
305 o outer
1983. 350
out outlet
s slanted, or surface
Mohamed E. Ali is an associate professor in
REFERENCES thermo-fluid section at King Saud University,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He received his Ph.D. in
[1] Ali, M. E., Experimental Investigation of Natural Convection from 1988 from the University of Colorado at Boulder,
310 Vertical Helical Coiled Tubes, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, vol. 37, Colorado. His main research interests are natural 355
no. 4, pp. 665–671, 1994. and mixed convection (experimentally, numeri-
cally, and analytically) applied to helical coils and
[2] Xin, R. C., and Ebadian, M. A., Natural Convection Heat Transfer
stretched surfaces, and the stability of Taylor Cou-
from Helicoidal Pipes, J. Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, vol.
ette flow. He has published more than thirty arti-
12, no. 2, pp. 297–302, 1996. cles in well-recognized journals and proceedings. 360
315 [3] Ali, M. E., Laminar Natural Convection from Constant Heat Flux He is a reviewer for IJHMT, IJHFF, Phys. of Fluids, HMT, IJThS, and Applied
Helical Coiled Tubes, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, vol. 41, no. 14, Thermal Engineering. He was a visiting professor at the University of Colorado
pp. 2175–2182, 1998. at Boulder, Colorado, and Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois.