Chapters authored
Direct-Contact Heat Exchanger
Direct-contact heat transfer involves the exchange of heat between two immiscible fluids by bringing them into contact at different temperatures. There are two basic bubbling regimes in direct-contact heat exchanger: homogeneous and heterogeneous. Industrially, however, the homogeneous bubbling regime is less likely to prevail, owing to the high gas flow rates employed. The mixture homogeneity and the non-homogeneity of the mixture can be characterized by the Betti numbers and the mixing time can be estimated relying on image analysis and statistics in a direct-contact heat exchanger. To accurately investigate the space-time features of the mixing process in a direct contact heat exchanger, the uniformity coefficient method based on discrepancy theory for assessing the mixing time of bubbles behind the viewing windows is effective. Hence, the complexity of the bubble swarm patterns can be reduced and their mechanisms clarified, and the heat transfer performance in a direct-contact heat exchanger can be elucidated.
Part of the book: Heat Exchangers