Abstract
Thermosiphons are circuits in which a flow pattern is driven by buoyancy forces originated from density differences. These equipments are widely applied in industries due to their simplicity and high heat transfer rate. In this paper, a 40.2-mm-inner-diameter and 1-m-high tubular thermosiphon was evaluated at single-phase and multiphase conditions. The experimental unit was set to represent vapor generator systems employed in most industrial applications as an ASTM A192 tube was used at heating section. For single-phase flow, an experimental database regarding temperature and velocity was obtained by thermocouples and particle image velocimetry (PIV), respectively. Natural circulation effects were captured allowing the observation of a preferred path of the flow at the center of the tube. For multiphase flow, liquid-phase velocity was obtained by PIV technique and vapor-phase velocity, diameter, and void fraction were obtained by phase Doppler anemometry (PDA). Results pointed to the establishment of partial boiling regime as bubble presence decelerated liquid velocity. The present study discussed natural convection regime, transition regime that appeared once boiling initiated, and system behavior when subcooled nucleate boiling was established. This represents a robust database regarding phase change and the instabilities that this phenomenon can cause.
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Abbreviations
- \({f}_{V}^{l}\) :
-
Local void fraction
- \({n}_{V}\) :
-
Number of vapor-phase samples
- \(f\) :
-
Acquisition frequency (s−1)
- \({t}_{s}\) :
-
Elapsed time of sample (s)
- \({t}_{b}\) :
-
Time elapsed for each bubble (s)
- T w :
-
Temperature at tube external wall (°C)
- T r :
-
Temperature at the end of the riser (°C)
- q :
-
Heat rate (W)
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by PETROBRAS (cooperation agreement number 5850.0103010.16.9) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq (process 307244/020-2). The authors also thank PETROBRAS for providing the industrial tube used in the experimental unit.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. BIB contributed to conceptualization. BIB, MKS, JCSCB, and HFM contributed to methodology. BIB and RF contributed to experiments. BIB, MKS, JCSCB, and HFM contributed to data processing and analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by BIB, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors revised and approved the final manuscript.
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Bittelbrunn, B.I., Fischer, R., Silva, M.K. et al. Single- and multiphase flow in a natural circulation thermosiphon: an experimental analysis. Exp Fluids 63, 113 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-022-03457-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-022-03457-y