Flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical nitrogen in a vertical mini-tube

Supercritical fluids show many tremendously strange characteristics, such as singularities in compressibility and viscosity, diminishing difference in vapor and liquid phases and so on, which have attracted a lot of experimental and theoretical investigations for the fundamental research. In the present study, experimental investigations of the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical nitrogen in a mini-tube of about 2.0 mm in diameter and 220.0 mm in length are carried out, the effects of many influential factors on the fluid flow and heat transfer are studied. Meanwhile, the numerical analysis of the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical nitrogen is also conducted by using FLUENT. It is found that the agreement between the experimental and numerical results is quite good and the further interpretation and discussion are carried out.