Abstract
In this study, ammonia boiling heat transfer coefficient and the overall heat transfer were measured in a plate evaporator for an ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) system using aluminum plates. The OTEC system used ammonia as the working and a plate heat exchanger (PHE) that combined titanium plates. In this study, we used an anodized aluminum herringbone plate with two chevron angles of 45 and 60° installed in a PHE and measured the boiling heat transfer coefficients of ammonia and overall heat transfer coefficients for both plates to compare their heat transfer performances. The experimental conditions included a hot water flow rate of 1 – 12 L/min, a working fluid mass flux of 7 – 30 kg/m2s, a hot water inlet temperature of 30 – 40 °C, and a system pressure of 700 kPa.
It was observed that anodized aluminum can be used as a heat-transfer plate for the PHE. In addition, the maximum overall heat transfer coefficient of chevron angle of 45° was 4 kW/m2K, and that of 60° was 3.5 kW/m2K, respectively. The maximum ammonia boiling heat transfer coefficient of 45° was 12.5 kW/m2K, and that of 60° was 13 kW/m2K, respectively. The heat transfer coefficient values are similar. Additionally, the correlation between the nondimensional heat transfer and the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter of aluminum plates was also clarified for comparison with the previous ammonia plate heat transfer in a flat plate. By comparing the correlation equations, the aluminum plate exhibited a value twice that of the flat plate.