IIT Jodhpur Develops Method to Measure Boiling, Condensation Heat Transfer

The researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur found out a technique to measure the boiling and condensation heat transfer using Infra-red thermal imaging technique. The main objective of the research was to visualize the fluid flow and temperature distribution in multiphase flow. It also aimed to measure the heat transfer rate and its coefficient during boiling and condensation. The IIT Jodhpur researchers have developed an in-house multi-electrode sensor system for the tomography of liquid-gas flows and efficient desalination process using vacuum evaporation process and boiling system.

Dr. Hardik Kothadia and Dr. Arun Kumar R from Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Jodhpur along with their students Mr. Sarvjeet Singh, Mr. Arvind Kumar, Mr. Bikash Pattanayak, Mr. Anoop S L, Ms. Astha Gautam, and other faculty members Dr. Prodyut Ranjan Chakraborty, Dr. Saakshi Dhanekar and Dr. Kamaljit Rangra were involved in this research work.

The work was later published in the International Journal of Thermal Sciences .The research was partially funded by the Ministry of Defence as Techno-commercial Project and Thermax SPX Energy Technologies Ltd. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of coil orientation on local heat transfer distribution, pressure drop, and critical heat flux during flow boiling.

The study used horizontal and vertical orientation with SS-304 tubes of different diameters. The results showed that the orientation of the coils did not significantly affect the two-phase pressure drop, but it did affect the wall temperature, heat transfer distribution, and critical heat flux. The study found that the local and average heat transfer coefficient was higher in vertical-oriented than in horizontal ones.

Talking about the significance of the research, Dr. Hardik Kothadia, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur, said, “Infrared thermal imaging and Multi-Electrode Sensor system are unique techniques for the visualization of temperature distribution and multiphase flows.”

Dr. Arun Kumar R, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur, further adds, “There are many industrial applications of Multi-Electrode Sensor system to analyse fluids flows and flow mixing.”

The end application of the research is the development of solar thermal desalination system and visualization of flow mixing and gas-liquid flows in many industrial applications. As a part of the future scope, the researchers are looking forward to develop the efficient and robust Multi-Electrode Sensor system and Multi-effect Desalination system.

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