Hydraulic Validation of the LHC Cold Mass Heat Exchanger Tube

The knowledge of the helium mass flow vs. the fraction of the tube wetted by the liquid helium II in the heat exchanger is a crucial input parameter for the heat exchange since the heat flux is direct ly proportional to the wetted surface. In the range of liquid and gas velocities inside the heat exchanger, the liquid flow behaves like in an open channel. Looking at the flow equations for such a s ituation, the velocity depends on the fluid properties only by the friction factor which is a function of the Reynolds number. Thus it was decided to build an experiment with water in order to check t he open channel equations in the heat exchanger geometry. This paper shows the results for water and gives the extrapolation for helium.