Pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of clathrate hydrate slurry in a plate heat exchanger

Pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of 0–17.5 vol% tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) clathrate hydrate slurry (CHS) as a secondary refrigerant flowing through a plate heat exchanger (PHE) were investigated in the present research. It was found that the pressure drop of TBAB CHS was about 3.0–50.0 kPa which was about 1.2–2 times of that of the chilled water at the flow rate of 2.5–13.0 L min−1. The pressure drop increased with the increase of the volume fraction. Variation of the pressure drop with the modified Reynolds number was discussed and compared with that of the ice slurry. Flow friction factor correlation and local heat transfer correlation for TBAB CHS flowing through PHE were both proposed based on the experimental data. In addition, the influential factors, such as the inlet water temperature and inlet CHS volume fraction, on the overall heat transfer coefficient were discussed.