CT-12 Data and Analysis of Heat Transfer Performance for Multicomponent Vapors Condensing in Vertical Tubes
HTRI conducted 150 data runs using a test fluid donated by Phillips Petroleum Company, a mixture with more than 80 components (seven carbon groups) and a wide condensing range. With these new data, HTRI evaluated the current Resistance Proration Method (RPM), originally developed using data collected for pure component, binary mixture, and ternary mixture condensation with and without noncondensable gases. Results show that for most multicomponent data, the current RPM underpredicts the heat transfer coefficient by ~ 10 to 25 percent with a mean of 0.87. A modified RPM has been developed introducing a factor that accounts for the effect of mass diffusion in multicomponent condensation. Comparisons show that the improved RPM can predict the entire range of experimental data to within ± 25 percent accuracy with a mean of 0.98. This report presents HTRI’s new data and documents an improvement to the HTRI RPM for vertical intube condensation of multicomponent hydrocarbon mixtures.