The Research of Temperature Fields in the Proximity of a Bundle of Heated Pipes Arranged Above Each Other

The paper deals with the research of temperature fields in the proximity of heated pipes arranged above each other in a natural air convection. The holographic interferometry method was used for the visualization of temperature fields. The experiments were made with pipes, diameter of 20 mm, length 200 mm, spacing two-dimensional (2D) at surface temperatures of 40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C, with the vertical arrangement of the pipes as well as with the horizontal shift of their centers by 1/4D and 1/2D (on a surface temperature of 50 °C). Temperature profiles were determined from the experimentally obtained images of temperature fields, and local parameters of heat transfer were calculated. Under the same marginal and geometric conditions, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of temperature fields were performed as well, while the results (temperature fields, local and mean parameters of heat transfer) were also calculated for various distances between the pipe centers (1D, 2D, and 3D). From the obtained experimental results and CFD simulation results, it is possible to observe the impact of the arrangement and spacing of pipes on heat transfer parameters. The achieved results imply the change in the spacing of the pipes has a greater impact on heat transfer parameters in the bundle of heated pipes located above each other than a moderate horizontal shift of their centers.