Enhancement of Heat Transfer Using Delta-Winglet Type Vortex Generators with a Common-Flow-up Arrangement

Simulations of a coolant air flowing in a heat exchanger with delta-winglet type vortex generators in common-flow-up configuration have been performed to unveil the salient heat transfer characteristics. The heat exchanger is approximated as a periodic rectangular channel with heated walls and a pair of built-in tubes near the inlet and outlet. The heat transfer characteristics of the heat exchangers with vortex generators near the inlet, outlet, and both inlet and outlet have been compared. The Navier-Stokes equations together with the energy equation are solved employing unstructured finite volume method. The simulations reveal a significant enhancement in heat transfer because of the strong swirling motion originating from the streamwise longitudinal vortices behind the pair of delta winglets. The spiraling flow entrains air into the core and causes intermixing of the fluid layers to disrupt the growth of the thermal boundary layer. A parametric study on the angles of attack identifies the conditions under which enhancement in heat transfer can lead to significant miniaturization of the heat exchangers. The analysis also reveals interesting flow structures behind the winglets and correlates them to the mechanism of heat transfer.     

WINGLET-TYPE VORTEX GENERATORS WITH COMMON-FLOW-UP CONFIGURATION FOR FIN-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGERS

This investigation stems from the area of augmentation of heat transfer by generating streamwise longitudinal vortices. The vortex generators are arranged in a common-flow-up configuration. Existing air-cooled condensers in geothermal power plants use fin-tube heat exchangers with circular tubes. The heat exchangers are huge, and often the cost of the condensers is more than one-third of the plant cost. The size of the condensers can be reduced through enhancement of heat transfer from fin surfaces. The enhancement strategy involves introduction of strong swirling motion in the flow field. The swirl can be generated by the longitudinal vortices. In this study, the longitudinal vortices are created by delta winglet-type vortex generators, which are mounted behind the tubes. An element of a heat exchanger has been considered for detailed study of the flow structure and heat transfer analysis. Biswas and colleagues have obtained significant enhancement of heat transfer by deploying the winglet pair behind each tube. In this study, a novel technique (Torii and colleagues [2]) has been utilized for the enhancement. The winglets are placed with a heretofore unused orientation for the purpose of augmentation of heat transfer. This orientation is called the common-flow-up configuration. The proposed method causes significant separation delay, reduces form drag, and removes the zone of poor heat transfer from the near wake of the tubes. The analyses of flow and heat transfer in the proposed configuration have been accomplished through a numerical solution of complete Navier-Stokes and energy equations.     

Parameters Optimization of Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchanger with a Novel Vortex Generator Fin by Taguchi Method

In this study, the effects of various vortex generator configurations on the heat transfer and flow friction characteristics are investigated by numerical method. Compared with common-flow-down configuration, the Nusselt numbers of common-flow-up configuration increase by 2.7–2.9% in the range of studied Reynolds number, while the friction factors reduce by 7.8–10.0%. A comparative study of the effects of location of axial dimension, location of spanwise dimension, attack angle, and length and height of vortex generator on fin performance is conducted. The results show that the intensity of heat transfer can be greatly increased with decreasing the location and attack angle of vortex generator, and with increasing height of vortex generator, accompanying with the increase of pressure drop. The Nusselt number and friction factors first increase and then decrease with increasing length of vortex generator. The parameters of the vortex generator fin-and-tube heat exchanger are optimized by the Taguchi method. Sixteen kinds of models are made by compounding levels on each factor, and the heat transfer and flow friction characteristics of each model are analyzed. The results allow us to quantitatively estimate the various parameters affecting heat exchanger performance, and the main factors for optimal design of a heat exchanger are selected. The two optimal conditions are acquired, and the reproducibility of the results is verified by two analytical results.     

Numerical study of fluid flow and heat transfer in a flat-plate channel with longitudinal vortex generators by applying field synergy principle analysis

Three dimensional numerical simulations are performed on laminar heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of a flat-plate channel with longitudinal vortex generators (LVGs). The effects of two different shaped LVGs, rectangular winglet pair (RWP) and delta winglet pair (DWP) with two different configurations, common-flow-down (CFD) and common-flow-up (CFU), are studied. The numerical results indicate that the application of LVGs effectively enhances heat transfer of the channel. According to the performance evaluation parameter, (Nu/Nu₀)/(f/f₀), the channel with DWP has better overall performance than RWP; the CFD and CFU configurations of DWP have almost the same overall performance; the CFD configuration has a better overall performance than the CFU configuration for RWP. The basic mechanism of heat transfer enhancement by LVGs can be well described by the field synergy principle.     

Heat transfer enhancement in cross-flow heat exchangers using oval tubes and multiple delta winglets

A three-dimensional study of laminar flow and heat transfer in a channel with built-in oval tube and delta winglets is carried out through the solution of the complete Navier-Stokes and energy equations using a body-fitted grid and a finite-volume method. The geometrical configuration represents an element of a gas-liquid fin-tube cross-flow heat exchanger. The size of such heat exchangers can be reduced through enhancement of transport coefficients on the air (gas) side, which are usually small compared to the liquid side. In a suggested strategy, oval tubes are used in place of circular tubes, and delta-winglet type vortex generators in various configurations are mounted on the fin-surface. An evaluation of the strategy is attempted in this investigation. The investigation is carried out for different angles of attack of the winglets to the incoming flow for the case of two winglet pairs. The variation of axial location of the winglets is also considered for one pair of winglets mounted in common-flow-down configuration. The structures of the velocity field and the heat transfer characteristics have been presented. The results indicate that vortex generators in conjunction with the oval tube show definite promise for the improvement of fin-tube heat exchangers.     

Numerical study on laminar convection heat transfer in a rectangular channel with longitudinal vortex generator. Part A: Verification of field synergy principle

This study presents numerical computation results on laminar convection heat transfer in a rectangular channel with a pair of rectangular winglets longitudinal vortex generator punched out from the lower wall of the channel. The effect of the punched holes and the thickness of the rectangular winglet pair to the fluid flow and heat transfer are numerically studied. It is found that the case with punched holes has more heat transfer enhancement in the region near to the vortex generator and lower average flow frictional coefficient compared with the case without punched holes. The thickness of rectangular winglet can cause less heat transfer enhancement in the region near to the vortex generator and almost has no significant effect on the total pressure drop of the channel. The effects of Reynolds number (from 800 to 3000), the attack angle of vortex generator (15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°) were examined. The numerical results were analyzed from the viewpoint of field synergy principle. It was found that the essence of heat transfer enhancement by longitudinal vortex can be explained very well by the field synergy principle, i.e., when the second flow generated by vortex generators results in the reduction of the intersection angle between the velocity and fluid temperature gradient, the heat transfer in the present channels will be enhanced. Longitudinal vortices (LVs) improve the synergy between velocity and temperature field not only in the region near LVG but also in the large downstream region of longitudinal vortex generator. So LVs enable to enhance the global heat transfer of channel. Transverse vortices (TVs) only improve the synergy in the region near VG. So TVs can only enhance the local heat transfer of channel.     

不同纵向涡发生器流动传热的数值模拟

利用三维数值模拟的方法对带有3种异形纵向涡发生器的H型翅片椭圆管换热器的空气侧流动传热特性进行研究。基于H型翅片椭圆管束,讨论了在不同雷诺数下,纵向涡发生器的摆放位置、摆放攻角和形状对空气侧流动传热的影响。研究表明:纵向涡发生器能够将高能量的流体引向流速较低的壁面区域,使冷热流体之间的混合加剧,增强流体的湍流动能,进而达到强化传热的效果;与无纵向涡发生器的管束相比,带纵向涡发生器管束的传热效果有明显的提高;当纵向涡发生器后置时,换热器的传热效果最优;在雷诺数相同,攻角为30°时,流体的传热性能和阻力特性均达到最优;相同攻角摆放时,椭圆角矩形发生器的传热性能和阻力因子均优于其他两种形式的发生器。研究结果为烟气余热回收系统换热器传热性能强化提供理论依据。     

Numerical investigation and analysis of heat transfer enhancement in channel by longitudinal vortex based on field synergy principle

3-D numerical simulations were presented for laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics in a rectangular channel with vortex generators. The effects of Reynolds number (from 800 to 3 000), the attack angle of vortex generator (from 15° to 90°) and the shape of vortex generator were examined. The numerical results were analyzed based on the field synergy principle. It is found that the inherent mechanism of the heat transfer enhancement by longitudinal vortex can be explained by the field synergy principle, that is, the second flow generated by vortex generators results in the reduction of the intersection angle between the velocity and fluid temperature gradient. The longitudinal vortex improves the field synergy of the large downstream region of longitudinal vortex generator (LVG) and the region near (LVG); however, transverse vortex only improves the synergy of the region near vortex generator. Thus, longitudinal vortex can enhance the integral heat transfer of the flow field, while transverse vortex can only enhance the local heat transfer. The synergy angle decreases with the increase of Reynolds number for the channel with LVG to differ from the result obtained from the plain channel, and the triangle winglet performs better than the rectanglar one under the same surface area condition. __________ Translated from Journal of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 2006, 40(9): 996–1000 [译自: 西安交通大学学报]     

Augmentation of Heat Transfer by Creation of Streamwise Longitudinal Vortices Using Vortex Generators

This paper summarizes the current state of the art related to improvement of the heat exchanger surfaces using streamwise longitudinal vortices. Primarily, the improvements related to fin-tube cross-flow heat exchangers and the plate-fin heat exchangers have been addressed. Protrusions in certain forms, such as delta wings or winglet pairs, act as vortex generators, which can enhance the rate of heat transfer from the heat-exchanger surfaces that may be flat or louvered. The strategically placed vortex generators create longitudinal vortices, which disrupt the growth of the thermal boundary layer, promote mixing between fluid layers, and hence lead to augmentation in heat transfer. The flow fields are dominated by swirling motion associated with modest pressure penalty. Heat transfer is augmented substantially for all the proposed configurations of the longitudinal vortex generators, such as delta wings, rectangular winglet pairs, and delta winglet pairs, with varying degree of pressure penalty. Both computational and experimental investigations on flow and heat transfer in the heat exchanger passages with built-in vortex generators are revisited and summarized.     

不同排列方式下三角翼波纹翅片管换热器的换热性能比较

应用三维数值模拟的方法对加装三角翼涡发生器的波纹翅片管换热器的流动换热特性进行了研究.3排换热圆管按顺排和叉排2种方式排列.结果表明:三角翼产生的纵向涡包括1个主涡和1个角涡.顺排布置时,纵向涡不但改善了尾迹区的换热,同时还大大强化了三角翼下游管排壁面的换热;叉排布置时,纵向涡在遇到后一个波谷时很快被抑制,换热的强化主要作用于尾迹区.ReD=3000时,与无三角翼的波纹翅片相比,三角翼波纹翅片的j、f,因子在顺排和叉排布置中分别增加了15.4%、10.5%和13.1%、7.0%.在不同排列方式下,三角翼产生的纵向涡均提高了波纹翅片管换热器的换热性能.     

Flow structure and heat transfer induced by embedded vorticity

Several vortex generator shapes are used to increase heat and mass transfer in open and internal flows. Here we report a three-dimensional numerical study investigating the effects of longitudinal and transverse vortices on the heat and mass transfer mechanisms generated by rows of trapezoidal vortex generators. The turbulent macrostructures of these streamwise vortices appear greatly to enhance radial convective transfer. Due to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, the shear layer shed from the tab’s edge becomes unstable and generates periodic transverse vortices that enhance fluid mixing and heat transfer. A global performance analysis of the high-efficiency vortex (HEV) heat exchanger designed to exploit these embedded vortices, shows that the HEV is very competitive with other multifunctional heat exchangers/reactors, especially due to its very low energy consumption.     

Numerical investigation and analysis of heat transfer enhancement in channel by longitudinal vortex based on field synergy principle

3-D numerical simulations were presented for laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics in a rectangular channel with vortex generators. The effects of Reynolds number (from 800 to 3 000), the attack angle of vortex generator (from 15° to 90°) and the shape of vortex generator were examined. The numerical results were analyzed based on the field synergy principle. It is found that the inherent mechanism of the heat transfer enhancement by longitudinal vortex can be explained by the field synergy principle, that is, the second flow generated by vortex generators results in the reduction of the intersection angle between the velocity and fluid temperature gradient. The longitudinal vortex improves the field synergy of the large downstream region of longitudinal vortex generator (LVG) and the region near (LVG); however, transverse vortex only improves the synergy of the region near vortex generator. Thus, longitudinal vortex can enhance the integral heat transfer of the flow field, while transverse vortex can only enhance the local heat transfer. The synergy angle decreases with the increase of Reynolds number for the channel with LVG to differ from the result obtained from the plain channel, and the triangle winglet performs better than the rectanglar one under the same surface area condition.     

Numerical analysis on heat transfer enhancement by longitudinal vortex based on field synergy principle

Three-dimensional numerical simulation results are presented for a fin-and-tube heat transfer surface with vortex generators. The effects of the Reynolds number (from 800 to 2 000) and the attack angle (30° and 45°) of a delta winglet vortex generator are examined. The numerical results are analyzed on the basis of the field synergy principle to explain the inherent mechanism of heat transfer enhancement by longitudinal vortex. The secondary flow generated by the vortex generators causes the reduction of the intersection angle between the velocity and fluid temperature gradients. In addition, the computational evaluations indicate that the heat transfer enhancement of delta winglet pairs for an aligned tube bank fin-and-tube surface is more significant than that for a staggered tube bank fin-and-tube surface. The heat transfer enhancement of the delta winglet pairs with an attack angle of 45° is larger than that with an angle of 30°. The delta winglet pair with an attack angle of 45° leads to an increase in pressure drop, while the delta winglet pair with the 30° angle results in a slight decrease. The heat transfer enhancement under identical pumping power condition for the attack angle of 30° is larger than that for the attack angle of 45° either for staggered or for aligned tube bank arrangement. Translated from Journal of Xi’an Jiao Tong University, 2006, 40(7): 757–761 [译自: 西安交通大学学报]     

Investigation on laminar convection heat transfer in fin-and-tube heat exchanger in aligned arrangement with longitudinal vortex generator from the viewpoint of field synergy principle

3-D numerical simulation results are presented for laminar flow heat transfer of the fin-and-tube surface with vortex generators. The effects of Reynolds number (from 800 to 2000), the attack angle (30° and 45°) of delta winglet vortex generator are examined. The numerical results are analyzed from the viewpoint of field synergy principle. It is found that the inherent mechanism of heat transfer enhancement by longitudinal vortex can be explained by the field synergy principle, the second flow generated by the vortex generators results in the reduction of the intersection angle between the velocity and fluid temperature gradient. In addition, the heat transfer enhancement of delta winglet with the attack angle of 45° is larger than that of 30°, while the delta winglet with the attack angle of 45° results in an increase of the pressure drop, however, the delta winglet with the attack angle of 30° results in a slight decrease.     

Numerical study on a slit fin-and-tube heat exchanger with longitudinal vortex generators

A 3-D numerical simulation is performed on laminar heat transfer and flow characteristics of a slit fin-and-tube heat exchanger with longitudinal vortex generators. Heat transfer enhancement of the novel slit fin mechanism is investigated by examining the effect of the strips and the longitudinal vortices. The structure of the slit fin is optimized and analyzed with field synergy principle. The result coincides with the guideline ‘front coarse and rear dense’. The heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of the slit fin-and-tube heat exchanger with longitudinal vortex generators are compared with that of the heat exchanger with X-shape arrangement slit fin and heat exchanger with rectangular winglet longitudinal vortex generators. It is found that the Colburn j-factor and friction factor f of the novel heat exchanger with the novel slit fin is in between them under the same Reynolds number, and the factor j/(f^1/3) of the novel heat exchanger increased by 15.8% and 4.2%, respectively.     

The development of active vortex generators from shape memory alloys for the convective cooling of heated surfaces

A study of the convective heat transfer enhancement of heated surfaces through the use of active delta wing vortex generators is reported in this paper. The surface-mounted vortex generators (VGs) change their shape to intrude further into the flow at high temperatures to enhance heat transfer, while maintaining a low profile at low temperatures to minimise flow pressure losses. The VGs are made from shape memory alloys and manufactured in a selective laser melting process. Experiments have been carried out in a rectangular duct supplied with laminar-transition air flow. In the test section, a single, and a pair of active delta wing VGs were placed near the leading edge of a heated plate and tested separately for their heat transfer enhancement effects using infrared thermography. The pressure difference across the test section was also measured to determine the pressure drop penalty associated with the obstruction caused by the vortex generators in their active positions. Promising shape memory response was obtained from the active VG samples when their surface temperatures were varied from 20 °C to 65 °C. The vortex generators responded by increasing their angles of attack from 10° to 38° and as the designs were two-way trained, they regained their initial position and shape at a lower temperature. At their activated positions, maximum heat transfer improvements of up to 90% and 80% were achieved by the single and double wings respectively along the downstream direction. The flow pressure losses across the test section, when the wings were activated, increased between 7% and 63% of the losses at their de-activated positions, for the single and double VG respectively.     

Numerical study of heat-transfer enhancement by punched winglet-type vortex generator arrays in fin-and-tube heat exchangers

The potential of punched winglet type vortex generator (VG) arrays used to enhance air-side heat-transfer performance of finned tube heat exchanger is numerically investigated. The arrays are composed of two delta-winglet pairs with two layout modes of continuous and discontinuous winglets. The heat transfer performance of two array arrangements are compared to a conventional large winglet configuration for the Reynolds number ranging from 600 to 2600 based on the tube collar diameter, with the corresponding frontal air velocity ranging from 0.54 to 2.3 m/s. The effects of different geometry parameters that include attack angle of delta winglets (β = 10 deg, β = 20 deg, β = 30 deg) and the layout locations are examined. The numerical results show that for the punched VG cases, the effectiveness of the main vortex to the heat transfer enhancement is not fully dominant while the “corner vortex” also shows significant effect on the heat transfer performance. Both heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop increase with the increase of attack angle β for the side arrangements; the arrays with discontinuous winglets show the best heat transfer enhancement, and a significant augmentation of up to 33.8–70.6% in heat transfer coefficient is achieved accompanied by a pressure drop penalty of 43.4–97.2% for the 30 deg case compared to the plain fin. For the front arrangements of VGs higher heat transfer enhancement and pressure drop penalty can be obtained compared to that of the side arrangement cases; the case with front continuous winglet arrays has the maximum value of j/f, a corresponding heat transfer improvement of 36.7–81.2% and a pressure drop penalty of 60.7–135.6%.     

Experimental study of rectangular channel with modified rectangular longitudinal vortex generators

A modified rectangular longitudinal vortex generator (LVG) obtained by cutting off the four corners of a rectangular wing is presented. Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of this LVG mounted in rectangular channel are experimentally investigated and compared with those of original rectangular LVG. Results show that the modified rectangular wing pairs (MRWPs) have better flow and heat transfer characteristics than those of rectangular wing pair (RWP). Near the positions of z = ±40 mm from the centerline of the heater plate, the local heat transfer is enhanced due to the strong longitudinal vortices generated by the presence of the LVGs. The down-sweep of the longitudinal vortices is beneficial to the heat transfer enhancement. The distance from the core of the main vortices of MRWP1 to the heater wall is slightly lower than those of RWP, and hence MRWP1 has a comparably better heat transfer characteristic.     

Numerical prediction on laminar heat transfer in square duct with 30° angled baffle on one wall

A numerical investigation on periodic laminar flow and heat transfer behaviors in a three-dimensional isothermal wall square duct fitted with 30° angled baffles on lower duct wall only is presented. The computations based on a finite volume method with the SIMPLE algorithm have been conducted for the fluid flow in terms of Reynolds numbers ranging from 100 to 2000. The angled baffles with attack angle of 30° are mounted periodically on the lower duct wall to generate a longitudinal vortex flow through the tested duct. Effects of different baffle height and three pitch length ratios on heat transfer and flow characteristics in the duct are investigated. The study shows that the longitudinal vortex flow created by the baffle helps to induce impinging flows over the baffle trailing end sidewall and the inter-baffle cavity wall resulting in drastic increase in heat transfer rate over the test duct. The computational results reveal that the Nusselt number ratio and the maximum thermal enhancement factor values for using the angled baffle are, respectively, found to be about 7.9 and 3.1 at Re = 2000, BR = 0.3 and PR=1.5.     

Experimental study on heat transfer enhancement on natural convection in a vertical plate by using longitudinal vortex generators arranged in rows

Longitudinal vortices are capable of producing beneficial effects in heat transfer enhancement. Experiments in natural convection heat transfer enhancement were done on a vertical flat heating plate using delta‐winglet longitudinal vortex generators (LVGs) arranged in rows. In an experimental range of Rayleigh number, the height and width of the winglet of the longitudinal vortex generator (LVG), the array form of the longitudinal vortex generators on the heat transfer performance were experimentally investigated, and the best height of the winglet of the longitudinal vortex generator was obtained. The results showed the change of the array form of the longitudinal vortex generators could affect the heat transfer effect. Finally by arranging some longitudinal vortex generator arrays with the appropriate interval, the whole heat transfer effect of the interval could reach a prime value. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 35(5): 351–358, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20119