In-tube cooling heat transfer of supercritical carbon dioxide. Part 1. Experimental measurement

Heat transfer of supercritical carbon dioxide cooled in circular tubes was investigated experimentally. The effect of mass flux, pressure, and heat flux on the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop was measured for four horizontal cooling tubes with different inner diameters ranging from 1 to 6 mm. The radial distribution of the thermophysical properties (i.e. specific heat, density, thermal conductivity and viscosity) in the tube cross-section was critical for interpreting the experimental results. A modified Gnielinski equation by selecting the reference temperature properly was then developed to predict the heat transfer coefficient of supercritical carbon dioxide under cooling conditions. This proposed correlation was accurate to within 20% of the experimental data. q 2004 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.