Pressure drop measurements in condensing steam over a horizontal bundle ofstaggered tubes

Pressure drop measurements in a 15 row staggered configuration condenser, p /D = 1.33, are described. Heat flux densities of up to 90 kW(.)m(-2) were u sed. The results are compared with the those of another investigation using a condenser with much less closely packed tubes. At relatively low suction , pressure drop in the closely packed condenser could be predicted by conve ntional single phase correlations. At higher values of suction the condensi ng pressure toss was considerably lower in this condenser than the single p hase value. In the more loosely packed condenser this difference occurred a t all values of suction. It is concluded that more experimental and theoret ical work is required to explain these effects in view of their importance in turbine condenser design. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales E lsevier SAS.