Experimental and numerical investigation of two-phase flow outside tube bundle of liquefied natural gas spiral wound heat exchangers under offshore conditions

Abstract In order to efficiently use spiral wound heat exchangers (SWHEs) in the field of offshore natural gas liquefaction, the heat transfer mechanism in two-phase flow outside tube bundle should be known. In the study, the heat transfer characteristics of two-phase flow were numerically investigated based on the experimental results under offshore conditions using propane as medium. A comparison between the heat transfer of the proposed model and that of experimental data was analyzed. The validation results showed that the trends of simulation results were basically identical to those of the experimental ones, the deviation was generally within ±10%. It obtained that liquid film acted as a key role during the heat transfer procedure for two-phase flow outside tube bundle under offshore conditions, and increases of sloshing frequency would improve the velocity of liquid films escaping from tube surface, which resulted in an adverse effect on heat transfer. Furthermore, heave had the weakest effect on heat transfer procedure as well as the influence of roll was the strongest for the two-phase flow outside tube bundle. The results obtained by the numerical model could be the basis for design of liquefied natural gas spiral wound heat exchangers (LNG-SWHEs) installed on buoyant platforms.