Measurement of Pressure Drop in Inclined Triangular and Rotated Triangular Tube Bundles

The present paper presents the experimental results for pressure drop in inclined tube bundles located in a rectangular duct. Measurements are made for pressure drop in triangular and rotated triangular tube arrays having P/d ratio of 1.6 and inclination angles of 30, 45, 60 and 90 degrees. The Reynolds number based on the free stream velocity and tube diameter ranges from 8×102 to 6.3×104. The experimental results show that the magnitude of dimensionless pressure drop decreases significantly when the inclined angle is less than 45 degree. The measured data are compared with two existing correlations available in the literatures. The ESDU correlation agrees well with the present data for the triangular arrays. But some discrepancies are observed for the rotated triangular arrays when the inclined angles are 30 and 45 degrees. The Idel’chik correlation generally agrees well with the measured data for the rotated triangular arrays except for the inclined angle of 30 degree. The Idel’chik correlation needs modification for the triangular arrays. The modified Idel’chik correlation agrees well with the measured data within 10%. It is found that the present measured data can be applied to the evaluation and modification of previous correlations.