Numerical investigation on flow condensation of zeotropic hydrocarbon mixtures in a helically coiled tube

A numerical investigation was carried out to study the condensation flow and heat transfer coefficient of methane/propane and ethane/propane mixtures in a helically coiled tube. Two-phase heat transfer simulations had been performed at saturation pressures of 0.3-3.7 MPa with mass flux of 200, 300, 400 kg/(m2 s) and heat flux of 5 kW/m2. The effects of mass flux, saturation pressure, vapor quality and component ratios on the heat transfer coefficient were examined. In addition, annular/non-annular flow patterns were obtained by numerical simulations and experiments, and a new flow pattern transitional line for annular/non-annular flows was proposed. Meanwhile, the results were compared with the existing condensation heat transfer correlations, and the improved heat transfer correlation was proposed and well coincided with the data with a mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) of 9.2%.