Materials, Equipment, and Procedures

The experiments used two types of equipment to demonstrate heat transfer: a

double pipe heat exchanger and a steam condenser.
The double pipe heat exchanger was constructed of a copper tube running
inside another copper tube, covered in polymeric-foam insulation. For our
experiment we had hot water running in the inner tube and cold water running in
the outer tube. The temperature of the system was measured using 8 iron
constantan thermocouples at various locations along the pipe, read from a
computer program. To change the flowrate of hot and cold water in the tubes, the
valves located on the inlet piping for hot and cold water were adjusted, measured
using a rotameter.
The steam condensation system consisted of an etched aluminum tube supplied
with cool water, within a Pyrex chamber supplied with steam. The heat exchanger

length is 57.8 cm. The aluminum tube has an inner diameter of 1.570 cm
and an outer diameter of 1.905 cm. The Pyrex chamber has an outer
diameter of 10.16 cm. The flowrate of the cool water in the inner tube was
varied by adjusting the inlet stream, measured by a large rotameter and a
small rotameter. The inlet pressure of cool water was kept constant by adjusting
the pressure regulator to 5 psig. The temperature of the system was read using a
computer program, monitoring 5 thermocouples placed on the system, and a 6 th
from a display panel on the wall. After both the steam and cold water passed
through the condenser, each of the lines flowed into tubing which emptied into two
buckets. The mass of these buckets were measured after every run using a digital
scale.
The double pipe heat exchanger experiment required that the temperatures be
measured at multiple flowrates, both in co-current and counter-current flow. For
each flow type, 45 total runs were made. First, 5 runs were made with the hot water
rotameter set at 1, with cool water flowrates at 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100. Each run
lasted 4 minutes. At the end of each run, the temperature at each of the
thermocouples were recorded, and the flow rate for cool water was raised to the
next setting. Once 5 runs were made at a hot water rotameter setting of 1, the
rotameter was adjusted to 2, and the runs were repeated. The third set of runs were
done with a hot water rotameter setting of 3.2.
Once the runs were completed for co-current flow, the cold water hose was
disconnected and moved to the other end of the pipe to cause counter-current flow.
The same procedure was then repeated for measuring temperatures at different
flowrates.
The steam condenser required that the temperature be measured at different
flowrates, as well of the mass of cooling water and condensate exiting the system.
The flow rate was set to 4 different settings. At each setting, 4 runs of 3 minutes
each were conducted. At the beginning and end of each run, the temperature of the
system was recorded. At the end of each run, the mass of liquid accumulated in the
cool water and condensate buckets were measured as well.