Enhanced heat transfer in rectangular duct with punched winglets

Thermal performance of a heat exchanger duct with punched winglets(PWs) mounted on the upper duct wall has been examined for Reynolds number(Re) ranging from 4100 to 25,500. In the present experiment, two types of PWs: punched delta-and elliptical-winglets(P-DW and P-EW) with four punched-hole sizes were tested at a fixed attack angle, optimal relative pitch and height. Also, data of solid delta-and elliptical-winglets(DW and EW) were included for comparison. The investigation has shown that the P-DW yields higher thermal-performance enhancement factor(η) than the P-EW. Although the solid DW and EW with no punch have the highest heat transfer and friction loss, the PWs yield better η than the solid ones. For PWs, the P-DW with smaller hole size has the peak heat transfer and friction loss around 5.7 and 40 times over the smooth duct, respectively but the optimum η of 2.17 is seen for the one with a certain hole size. The PWs provide η at about 5%–8% above the solid winglets.     

3D numerical study on flow structure and heat transfer in a circular tube with V-baffles☆

A 3D numerical investigation has been carried out to examine periodic laminar flow and heat transfer character-istics in a circular tube with 45° V-baffles with isothermal wal . The computations are ba...     

Thermal performance of tubular heat exchanger with multiple twisted-tape inserts

The paper presents an experimental investigation on enhanced heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics by using single, double, triple, and quadruple twisted-tape inserts in a round tube having a uniform heat-fluxed wal . The investigation has been conducted in the heat exchanger tube inserted with various twisted-tape numbers for co-and counter-twist arrangements for the turbulent air flow, Reynolds number (Re) from 5300 to 24000. The typical single twisted-tape inserts at two twist ratios, y/w=4 and 5, are used as the base case, while the other multiple twisted-tape inserts are at y/w=4 only. The experimental results of heat transfer and pressure drop in terms of Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor (f), respectively, reveal that Nu increases with the increment of Re and of twisted-tape number. The values of Nu for the inserted tube are in a range of 1.15–2.12 times that for the plain tube while f is 1.9–4.1 times. The thermal enhancement factor of the inserted tube under similar pumping power is evaluated and found to be above unity except for the single and the double co-twisted tapes. The quadruple counter-twisted tape insert provides the maximum thermal performance.     

Heat transfer augmentation in a circular tube with winglet vortex generators☆

The article presents the influence of winglet vortex generators (WVGs) placed in the core flow area on ther-mal performance enhancement of a tube heat exchanger. The experiment was carried out in a uniform wall heat-fluxed tube by varying turbulent alrflow for Reynolds number ranging from 5300 to 24000. In the pres-ent work, the WVGs with an attack angle of 30° were inserted into the test tube at four different winglet pitch ratios (RP=P/D) and three winglet-width or blockage ratios (RB=e/D). The experimental results at various RP and RB values were evaluated and compared with those for smooth tube and tubes with twist-ed tape or wire coil. The measurement reveals that the WVGs enhance considerably the heat transfer and friction loss above the plaln tube, wire coil and twisted tape. The Nusselt number and friction factor increase with the increment of RB and Re but with the decreasing RP. The average Nusselt numbers for the WVGs with various RB are in the range of 2.03–2.34 times above the plaln tube. The thermal performance for the WVGs is found to be much higher than that for the wire coil and twisted tape and is in a range of 1.35–1.59. Also, a numerical investigation is conducted to study the flow structure and heat transfer enhancement mecha-nisms in the winglet-inserted tube.     

Heat transfer and pressure drop in a channel with multiple 60° V-baffles

The research work has been conducted to assess turbulent forced convection heat transfer and friction loss behaviors for airflow through a channel fitted with a multiple 60° V-baffle turbulator. Measurements have been carried out for the channel of aspect ratio, AR = 10 and height, H = 30 mm with three different baffle blockage ratios, (e/H = 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30) and three baffle pitch spacing ratios, (PR = P / H = 1, 2 and 3) while the transverse pitch of the V-baffle is set to 2H and kept constant. The air flow rate is in terms of Reynolds numbers based on the inlet hydraulic diameter of the test channel ranging from 5000 to 25,000. The experimental results show that the V-baffle provides the drastic increase in Nusselt number, friction factor and thermal enhancement factor values over the smooth wall channel due to better flow mixing from the formation of secondary flows induced by vortex flows generated by the V-baffle. In addition, substantial increases in Nusselt number and friction factor values are found for the rise in blockage ratio and/or for the decrease in pitch ratio values. Assessing thermal performance of the V-baffled channel, the use of the V-baffle with PR = 1 and e/H = 0.10 leads to maximum thermal enhancement factor of about 1.87 at lower Reynolds number.     

Influence of combined non-uniform wire coil and twisted tape inserts on thermal performance characteristics

In this paper, heat transfer, friction factor and thermal performance behaviors in a tube equipped with the combined devices between the twisted tape (TT) and constant/periodically varying wire coil pitch ratio are experimentally investigated. The periodically varying three coil pitch ratios were arranged into two different forms: (1) D-coil (decreasing coil pitch ratio arrangement) and (2) DI-coil (decreasing/increasing coil pitch ratio arrangement) while the twisted tapes were prepared with two different twist ratios. Each device alone is also tested and the results are subjected for comparison with those from the combined devices. The experiments were conducted in a turbulent flow regime with Reynolds numbers ranging from 4600 to 20,000 using air as the test fluid. Compared to each enhancement device, the heat transfer rate is further augmented by the compound devices. Over the range investigated, the highest thermal performance factor of around 1.25 is found by using DI-coil in common with the TT at lower Reynolds number. In addition, the empirical correlations of the heat transfer (Nu) and pressure drop (f) are also presented.     

Numerical study of laminar flow and heat transfer in square channel with 30° inline angled baffle turbulators

The article presents a numerical investigation on periodic laminar flow and heat transfer behaviors in a three-dimensional isothermal wall square-channel fitted with 30°-angled baffles on two opposite channel walls. The computations based on the finite volume method with the SIMPLE algorithm have been conducted for the fluid flow in terms of Reynolds numbers ranging from 100 to 2000. To generate a pair of streamwise counter-rotating vortex (P-vortex) flows through the tested channel, the angled baffles with the attack angle of 30° are mounted periodically and inline arrangement on the lower and upper channel walls. Effects of different baffle heights and three pitch ratios on heat transfer and flow behaviors in the channel are examined. It appears that P-vortex flows help to induce impinging flows over the baffle leading end side and the inter-baffle cavity walls resulting in drastic increase in heat transfer rate over the test channel. The computational results reveal that the maximum thermal enhancement factors for the baffle with PR = 1, 1.5 and 2 are found to be about 3.6, 3.8 and 4.0 at BR = 0.2, 0.2 and 0.15, respectively.     

Turbulent convection in round tube equipped with propeller type swirl generators

This article is aimed at studying the heat transfer, friction loss and enhancement efficiency behaviors in a heat exchanger tube equipped with propeller type swirl generators at several pitch ratios (PR). The investigation is performed for the Reynolds number ranging from 4000 to 21,000 under a uniform heat flux condition. The experiments are also undertaken for several blade numbers of the propeller (N = 4, 6, and 8 blades) and for different blade angles (θ = 30°, 45°, and 60°). The influences of using the propeller rotating freely, on heat transfer enhancement, pressure loss, and enhancement efficiency, are reported. In the experiments, the swirl generator is used to create a decaying swirl in the tube flow. Average Nusselt numbers are determined and also compared with those obtained from other similar cases. The experimental results indicate that the tube with the propeller inserts provides considerable improvement of the heat transfer rate over the plain tube around 2.07 to 2.18 times for PR = 5, blade angles θ = 60° and N = 8. The use of the propeller leads to maximum enhancement efficiency up to 1.2. Thus, because of strong swirl or rotating flow, the propellers and their blade numbers become influential upon the heat transfer enhancement. The increase in friction factor from using the propeller is found to be 3–18 times over the plain tube. Correlations for Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor (f) for the inserted tube are provided and the performance evaluation criterion to access the real benefits in using the swirl generators of the enhanced tube is also determined.     

Turbulent flow heat transfer and pressure loss in a double pipe heat exchanger with louvered strip inserts

In the present work, heat transfer and friction characteristics were experimentally investigated, employing louvered strips inserted in a concentric tube heat exchanger. The louvered strip was inserted into the tube to generate turbulent flow which helped to increase the heat transfer rate of the tube. The flow rate of the tube was in a range of Reynolds number between 6000 and 42,000. The turbulent flow devices were consisted of (1) the louvered strips with forward or backward arrangements, and (2) the louvered strip with various inclined angles (θ = 15°, 25° and 30°), inserted in the inner tube of the heat exchanger. In the experiment, hot water was flowed through the inner tube whereas cold water was flowed in the annulus. The experimental data obtained were compared with those from plain tubes of published data. Experimental results confirmed that the use of louvered strips leads to a higher heat transfer rate over the plain tube. The increases in average Nusselt number and friction loss for the inclined forward louvered strip were 284% and 413% while those for the backward louvered strip were 263% and 233% over the plain tube, respectively. In addition, the use of the louvered strip with backward arrangement leads to better overall enhancement ratio than that with forward arrangement around 9% to 24%.     

Numerical simulation of flow field and temperature separation in a vortex tube

A numerical analysis of flow field and temperature separation in a uni-flow vortex tube type is described. Effects of the turbulence modeling (k–ε model and ASM), numerical scheme (hybrid, upwind and second-order upwind) and grid density on calculation of energy separation in the vortex tube are also conducted. It is found that the calculated results are in reasonably good agreement with the experimental data for both the static and total temperatures; the use of the ASM improves slightly the accuracy of the predictions than that the k–ε model. It is also observed that larger temperature gradients appear in the outer regions close to the tube wall for the static temperatures and the separation effect or the difference of the total temperature is high in the core region near the inlet nozzle. The maximum total temperature in the field is visible at the axis location of x/D_o between 0.5 and 1.0 for the ASM.