The Development of Enhanced Heat Transfer Condenser Tubing

Methods for manufacturing a variety of shapes of enhanced heat transfer condenser tubing have been developed. 32 different tubes have been studied, in a vertical orientation, for their overall heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics. All experiments were conducted with atmospheric steam condensing on the outside of the tube and water in forced convective flow on the inside, the heated length of the tube being 45 ins. 114 cm. The results show that on the condensing steam side coefficients up to 6 times comparable smooth tube values were obtained, and on the forced convective side up to 2 12 times. The results are linked to tube shape and appropriate theoretical analyses are presented.