An Experimental Study on Condensation Heat Transfer of Low-Finned Tubes

낮은 핀관 (low-fin tube)의 응축 열전달 성능에 관한 실험적 연구

Low-fin tubes are widely used to enhance condensation heat transfer. In this study, condensation heat transfer experiment was conducted on the low-fin tube using R-11. Three different fin densities-787 fpm (fins per meter), 1102 fpm. 1378 fpm-were tested. The results show that low-fin tube enhances the condensation heat transfer considerablely. The enhancement increases as the fin density increases. It was also found that the fin shape and height have a significant effect on the condensation heat transfer coefficient. Slender or high fins showed a higher condensing heat transfer coefficient compared with fat, low fins. For the tube with 1378 fpm, however, excessive fin height decreased the condensing heat transfer coefficient. The reason may be attributed to the increasing condensate retention angle as the fin density increases. The experimental data are compared with existing prediction models. Results show that Webb's surface tension model predicted the data best (within ${\pm}20%$), which confirms that surface tension plays the major role in low-fin tube condensation.