Experimental Study on Thermal Striping in Mixing Tees With Hot and Cold Water

Thermal striping tests in mixing tees with hot and cold water were conducted for three types of flow conjunctions in order to establish an evaluation method for high-cycle thermal fatigue of piping systems. Two kinds of examinations were planned. The preliminary tests were flow visualization tests carried out using acrylic pipes to obtain flow pattern characteristics and flow temperature fluctuations. The main tests were temperature fluctuation measurement tests carried out using metal pipes to evaluate the unsteady heat transfer coefficient based on measured temperature fluctuations of fluid and pipe wall. This paper reports visualization test results. The flow patterns were visualized by injection of methylene blue and compared with flow analysis results by the k-ε turbulence model. Temperature fluctuations of fluid 3mm from the inner pipe wall were measured with C-A thermocouples. Fundamental features such as locations with a large fluctuating temperature, the fluctuating temperature amplitude and its frequency were identified.