Experimental study of flow resistance for inclined tube bundles in the intermediate heat exchange of liquid metal reactor

An experimental study of measurement of pressure drop in an inclined tube bundle located in a rectangular duct is performed. The main emphasis of present study is placed on the derivation of pressure drop correlation applicable to the design of the intermediate heat exchanger in a liquid metal reactor as well as the general exchanger. An experimental facility that can measure the pressure drop in a tube bundle is designed, manufactured and installed, and the pressure drop is measured varying the flow rate and the test sections that have different inclined angles. Measurements are made for pressure drop in a triangular tube array of P/d=1.6 and inclination angles of 30, 45, 60 and 90 degrees. The Reynolds number based on the inlet free stream velocity and tube diameter ranges from 900 and 6.5 x 104. The experimental data show that the magnitude of dimensionless flow resistance increases with the increase of inclined tube angle. The measured data are compared with six previous correlations available in the literatures. The agreement with previous correlations is generally good except some discrepancies in a certain region. It is found that the experimental data obtained from present study can be applied to the evaluation and modification of previous correlations