Experimental local heat transfer data were collected onboard NASA’s KC-135 reduced gravity aircraft for two-phase, air-water flow in vertical, upward, co-current flow through a 9.53 mm circular tube. It was found that in the bubbly and slug flow regimes (surface tension dominated regimes), reduced gravity has a tendency to lower the heat transfer coefficient by up to 50% at the lowest gas qualities. As the gas quality is increased (transition to annular flow), the difference between the 1-g and μ-g heat transfer coefficients is much less significant. Empirical correlations were developed in terms of the pertinent dimensionless groups; namely the superficial liquid Reynolds number, the Froude number, the Graetz number and the Morton number. The correlations predicted the experimental data within 10–25%, depending on the flow regime and the superficial gas Weber number.
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