Analysis of Flow and Pressure Drop on Tube Side of Spiral Tube Heat Exchanger under Sloshing Conditions

Abstract

The utilization of the spiral tube heat exchanger (SHE) has become increasingly prevalent in large-scale liquefaction processes. However, the flow pattern and frictional pressure drop of two-phase flow in the spiral tube have been scarcely studied, particularly under offshore sloshing conditions. An experimental system had been developed to explore the flow pattern and frictional pressure drop characteristics of mixed hydrocarbon fluid in a spiral tube. Moreover, these have been developed in order to examine the effects of sloshing style (roll, pitch, heave), sloshing period (5–15 s), sloshing amplitude (5–15° or 50–150 mm), mass flux (200–800 kg/(m2·s)), vapor quality (0–1), and saturation pressure (2–4 MPa) on the frictional pressure drop of methane/ethane mixture in the spiral tube. The results indicated that sloshing conditions reduce the frictional pressure drop, thereby enhancing fluid flow. A correlation was established to predict the sloshing factor of frictional pressure drop, and the MARD under verification conditions was 6.04%. Furthermore, three flow pattern boundaries were proposed based on We* as an indicator.