Forced convection and subcooled flow boiling heat transfer in asymmetrically heated ducts of T-section

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of heat transfer from the heated bottom side of tee cross-section ducts to an internally flowing fluid. The idea of this work is derived from the cooling of critical areas in the cylinder heads of internal combustion engines. Fully developed single phase forced convection and subcooled flow boiling heat transfer data are reported. Six T-ducts of different width and height aspect ratios are tested with distilled water at velocities of 1, 2 and 3 m/s for bulk temperatures of 60 and 80degreesC, while the heat flux was varied from about 80 to 700 kW/m(2). The achieved data cover Reynolds numbers in the range of 5.22 x 10(4) to 2.36 x 10(5), Prandtl numbers in the range from 2.2 to 3.0, duct width aspect ratio between 2.19 and 3.13 and duct height aspect ratio from 0.69 to 2.0. The results revealed that the increase in either the width or height aspect ratio of the T-ducts enhances the convection heat transfer coefficients and the boiling heat fluxes considerably. The following comparisons are provided for coolant velocity of 2 m/s, bulk temperature of 60degreesC, wall superheat of 20 K and wall to bulk temperature difference of 20 K. As the width aspect ratio increases by 43%, the convection heat transfer coefficient and the boiling heat flux increase by 27% and 39%, respectively. An increase in the height aspect ratio by 290% enhances the convection heat transfer coefficient and the boiling heat fluxes by 82% and 103%, respectively. When the coolant velocity changes from 1 to 2 m/s, the heat transfer coefficient increases by 60% and the boiling heat flux rises by 62-98% for the various tested ducts. The convection heat transfer coefficient increases by 12% and the boiling heat flux decreases by 31% as the bulk fluid temperature rises from 60 to 80degreesC. A correlation was developed for Nusselt number as a function of Reynolds number, Prandtl number, viscosity ratio and some aspect ratios of the T-duct. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.