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%.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer enhancement in a double pipe heat exchanger with a twisted inner pipe

In the present work, an experimental investigation is conducted to address the influence of inner pipe twisting on the overall performance of a double pipe heat exchanger. With the fluid to fluid heat exchange, both parallel and counter flow directions are examined as well. In addition to the original elliptical pipe, three pipes with different numbers of twisting (3, 5, and 7 twists per unit length) constructed from the elliptical pipe are considered where the heat transfer rate and pressure drop are addressed. All tests are carried out in the turbulent flow regime where the Reynolds number (Re) ranging from 5000 to 26,000 and water is used as the working medium. The obtained outcomes show that for both flow directions, there is an enhancement in the heat exchanger overall performance with all considered twisting pipes. The maximum enhancement in the Nusselt number is found to be 1.8 for the parallel flow and around 2.2 for the counter flow compared with the original pipe. The inner pipe with 7 twists, however, improves the overall performance the most, where a maximum performance enhancement factor of 1.63 and 1.9 are observed at Reynolds number of 26,000 in the parallel and counter flow configurations, respectively.     

Heat transfer of nanofluids in a shell and tube heat exchanger

Heat transfer characteristics of γ-Al₂O₃/water and TiO₂/water nanofluids were measured in a shell and tube heat exchanger under turbulent flow condition. The effects of Peclet number, volume concentration of suspended nanoparticles, and particle type on the heat characteristics were investigated. Based on the results, adding of naoparticles to the base fluid causes the significant enhancement of heat transfer characteristics. For both nanofluids, two different optimum nanoparticle concentrations exist. Comparison of the heat transfer behavior of two nanofluids indicates that at a certain Peclet number, heat transfer characteristics of TiO₂/water nanofluid at its optimum nanoparticle concentration are greater than those of γ-Al₂O₃/water nanofluid while γ-Al₂O₃/water nanofluid possesses better heat transfer behavior at higher nanoparticle concentrations.     

Parametric study on turbulent heat transfer and flow characteristics in a circular tube fitted with louvered strip inserts

In the present work, characteristics of heat transfer, flow resistance, and overall thermo-hydraulic performance of turbulent airflow in a circular tube fitted with louvered strip inserts were investigated through numerical simulation. Our main attention was paid to the effects of the slant angle and pitch of the turbulators. The results show that the Nusselt number is augmented by 2.75–4.05 times (Nu = 108.71–423.87) as that of the smooth tube. The value of performance evaluation criterion (PEC) lies in the range of 1.60–2.05, which demonstrates that the louvered strip insert has a very good overall thermo-hydraulic performance. Moreover, the computational results indicate that larger slant angle and small pitch can effectively enhance the heat transfer rate, but also increase the flow resistance. Furthermore, it is noted that the Nusselt number and friction factor are more sensitive to the slant angle than the inserts pitch. Comparatively steady and good overall thermo-hydraulic performance can be obtained at a moderate slant angle together with a small pitch. All these data show that the louvered strip is a promising tube insert which would be widely used in heat transfer enhancement of turbulent flow.     

Heat transfer enhancement in microchannel heat sinks using nanofluids

Heat transfer enhancement in a 3-D microchannel heat sink (MCHS) using nanofluids is investigated by a numerical study. The addition of nanoparticles to the coolant fluid changes its thermophysical properties in ways that are closely related to the type of nanoparticle, base fluid, particle volume fraction, particle size, and pumping power. The calculations in this work suggest that the best heat transfer enhancement can be obtained by using a system with an Al₂O₃–water nanofluid-cooled MCHS. Moreover, using base fluids with lower dynamic viscosity (such as water) and substrate materials with high thermal conductivity enhance the thermal performance of the MCHS. The results also show that as the particle volume fraction of the nanofluid increases, the thermal resistance first decreases and then increases. The lowest thermal resistance can be obtained by properly adjusting the volume fraction and pumping power under given geometric conditions. For a moderate range of particle sizes, the MCHS yields better performance when nanofluids with smaller nanoparticles are used. Furthermore, the overall thermal resistance of the MCHS is reduced significantly by increasing the pumping power. The heat transfer performance of Al₂O₃–water and diamond–water nanofluids was 21.6% better than that of pure water. The results reported here may facilitate improvements in the thermal performance of MCHSs.     

Heat transfer enhancement of nanofluids flow in microtube with constant heat flux

In this paper, laminar convective heat transfer in a two-dimensional microtube (MT) with 50 μm diameter and 250 μm length with constant heat flux is numerically investigated. The governing (continuity, momentum and energy) equations were solved using the finite volume method (FVM) with the aid of SIMPLE algorithm. Different types of nanofluids Al₂O₃, CuO, SiO₂ and ZnO, with different nanoparticle size 25, 45, 65 and 80 nm, and different volume fractions ranged from 1% to 4% using ethylene glycol as a base fluid were used. This investigation covers Reynolds number in the range of 10 to 1500. The results have shown that SiO₂–EG nanofluid has the highest Nusselt number, followed by ZnO–EG, CuO–EG, Al₂O₃–EG, and lastly pure EG. The Nusselt number for all cases increases with the volume fraction but it decreases with the rise in the diameter of nanoparticles. In all configurations, the Nusselt number increases with Reynolds number.     

螺旋管紧凑式换热器传热性能分析

数值模拟研究了紧凑式小管螺旋管换热器的流动换热特性.螺旋管换热器由35个单管(直管和弯管)构成,管外为空气冷却,管内流过不同温度的液体工质R141B.模拟结果表明,各单根螺旋管内外对流传热系数、温度分布和传热性能,主要受内外流体温度梯度、回流条件、外部空气流速和单根管的传热表面积等因素的影响.     

Heat transfer effectiveness of three-fluid separated heat pipe exchanger

A heat transfer model for three-fluid separated heat pipe exchanger was analyzed,and the temperature transfer matrix for general three-fluid separated heat exchanger working in parallel-flow or counter-flow mode was obtained.It was found that the forms of temperature transfer matrix are similar for heat pipe rows with equal or different heat transfer surface area.Furthermore,by using the temperature transfer matrix of the heat pipe exchanger,the relationship between heat transfer effectiveness θ 1,θ 2 and M,NTU,U,Δt i were derived for the exchanger operating in parallel-flow or counter-flow mode,and a simple special example was adopted to demonstrate the correctness of these relationships.     

Heat transfer enhancement using hybrid nanofluids in spiral plate heat exchangers

A possible way to enhance the rate of heat transfer in the spiral plate heat exchanger (SPHE) is by employing hybrid nanofluids as its working medium. Hence, in the present work, effects of hybrid nanofluids on the thermal performance of SPHE has been investigated numerically. First, a countercurrent SPHE is designed and modeled. Later, simulation of SPHE has been carried out by employing conventional fluid , nanofluids , and hybrid nanofluids to investigate the heat transfer rates. Finally, the performance of SPHE using hybrid nanofluid is compared with that of using water and nanofluids. The heat transfer augmentation of approximately 16%‐27% with hybrid nanofluids of overall 4% nanoparticles volume concentration and 10%‐16% with 2% nanoparticles volume concentration is observed when compared with that of pure water. Therefore, it can be inferred that the application of hybrid nanofluids in SPHE seems to be one of the promising solutions for augmentation of its thermal performance.     

Heat transfer characteristics in double tube helical heat exchangers using nanofluids

In the present work a three-dimensional analysis is used to study the heat transfer characteristics of a double-tube helical heat exchangers using nanofluids under laminar flow conditions. CuO and TiO₂ nanoparticles with diameters of 24 nm dispersed in water with volume concentrations of 0.5–3 vol.% are used as the working fluid. The mass flow rate of the nanofluid from the inner tube was kept and the mass flow rate of the water from the annulus was set at either half, full, or double the value. The variations of the nanofluids and water temperatures, heat transfer rates and heat transfer coefficients along inner and outer tubes are shown in the paper. Effects of nanoparticles concentration level and of the Dean number on the heat transfer rates and heat transfer coefficients are presented. The results show that for 2% CuO nanoparticles in water and same mass flow rate in inner tube and annulus, the heat transfer rate of the nanofluid was approximately 14% greater than of pure water and the heat transfer rate of water from annulus than through the inner tube flowing nanofluids was approximately 19% greater than for the case which through the inner and outer tubes flow water. The results also show that the convective heat transfer coefficients of the nanofluids and water increased with increasing of the mass flow rate and with the Dean number. The results have been validated by comparison of simulations with the data computed by empirical equations.     

Heat transfer augmentation along the tube wall of a louvered fin heat exchanger using practical delta winglets

Delta winglets are known to induce the formation of streamwise vortices and increase heat transfer between a working fluid and the surface on which the winglets are placed. This study investigates the use of delta winglets to augment heat transfer on the tube surface of louvered fin heat exchangers. It is shown that delta winglets placed on louvered fins produce augmentations in heat transfer along the tube wall as high as 47% with a corresponding increase of 19% in pressure losses. Manufacturing constraints are considered in this study whereby piercings in the louvered fins resulting from stamping the winglets into the louvered fins are simulated. Comparisons of measured heat transfer coefficients with and without piercings indicate that piercings reduce average heat transfer augmentations, but significant increases still occur with respect to no winglets present.     

Review of convective heat transfer enhancement with nanofluids

Nanofluids are considered to offer important advantages over conventional heat transfer fluids. Over a decade ago, researchers focused on measuring and modeling the effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids. Recently important theoretical and experimental research works on convective heat transfer appeared in the open literatures on the enhancement of heat transfer using suspensions of nanometer-sized solid particle materials, metallic or nonmetallic in base heat transfer fluids. The purpose of this review article is to summarize the important published articles on the enhancement of the forced convection heat transfer with nanofluids.     

Experimental study on heat transfer augmentation in a double pipe heat exchanger utilizing jet vortex flow

This paper examines experimentally the effect of jet vortex technology on enhancing the heat transfer rate within a double pipe heat exchanger by supplying the heat exchanger with water at different vortex strengths. A vortex generator with special inclined holes with different inlet angles was designed, manufactured, and integrated within the heat exchanger. In this study, four levels of Reynolds number for hot water in the annulus (Re_h) were used, namely, 10,000; 14,500; 18,030; and 19,600. Similarly, four levels of Reynolds number for cold water in the inner tube (Re_c) were used, namely, 12,000; 17,500; 22,500; and 29,000. As for the inlet flow angle (θ), four different levels were selected, namely, 0°, 30°, 45°, and 60°. The temperature along the heat exchanger was measured utilizing 34 thermocouples installed along the heat exchanger. It was found that increasing the inlet flow angle (θ) and/or the Reynolds number results in an increase in the local Nusselt number, the overall heat transfer coefficient, and the ratio of friction factor. It is revealed that the percentage increase in the average Nusselt number due to swirl flow compared to axial flow was 10%, 40%, and 82% for an inlet flow angle of 30°, 45°, and 60°, respectively.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer in a triple tube heat exchanger with coiled spring inserts

Experiments have been performed to investigate the effect of coiled spring inserts on heat transfer, pressure drop, and performance parameters of a triple tube heat exchanger (TTHX). Three different spring inserts having a pitch of 5, 10, and 15 mm are used and the diameter of the spring wire is taken as 1 mm. The experiments were carried out under a turbulent flow regime, with water as a working medium in parallel and counter flow configurations. The variation in different performance characteristics like heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number, and effectiveness have been compared at various Reynolds numbers ranging between 4000 and 16,000 in the considered flow patterns. The Nusselt number of TTHX with the lowest pitch spring is found to be higher than that of the plain TTHX by 57.27% at Re = 4000 for the counter flow configuration. Both the thermal performance factor and effectiveness increased as the pitch of the spring insert was decreased. The effectiveness of TTHX with the lowest pitch spring insert is found higher than that of the plain TTHX by 43.84% in the counter flow pattern.     

Optimum design of double pipe heat exchanger

Heat exchangers are used in industrial processes to recover heat between two process fluids. Although the necessary equations for heat transfer and the pressure drop in a double pipe heat exchanger are available, using these equations the optimization of the system cost is laborious. In this paper the optimal design of the exchanger has been formulated as a geometric programming with a single degree of difficulty. The solution of the problem yields the optimum values of inner pipe diameter, outer pipe diameter and utility flow rate to be used for a double pipe heat exchanger of a given length, when a specified flow rate of process stream is to be treated for a given inlet to outlet temperature.     

Heat transfer performance and exergy analyses of a corrugated plate heat exchanger using metal oxide nanofluids

Heat exchangers have been widely used for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. Nanofluids are potential coolants, which can afford excellent thermal performance in heat exchangers. This study examined the effects of water and CuO/water nanofluids (as coolants) on heat transfer coefficient, heat transfer rate, frictional loss, pressure drop, pumping power and exergy destruction in the corrugated plate heat exchanger. The heat transfer coefficient of CuO/water nanofluids increased about 18.50 to 27.20% with the enhancement of nanoparticles volume concentration from 0.50 to 1.50% compared to water. Moreover, improvement in heat transfer rate was observed for nanofluids. On the other hand, exergy loss was reduced by 24% employing nanofluids as a heat transfer medium with comparing to conventional fluid. Besides, 34% higher exergetic heat transfer effectiveness was found for 1.5 vol.% of nanoparticles. It has a small penalty in the pumping power. Hence, the plate heat exchanger performance can be improved by adapting the working fluid with CuO/water nanofluids.     

Buoyancy-driven heat transfer enhancement in a two-dimensional enclosure utilizing nanofluids

Heat transfer enhancement in a two-dimensional enclosure utilizing nanofluids is investigated for various pertinent parameters. A model is developed to analyze heat transfer performance of nanofluids inside an enclosure taking into account the solid particle dispersion. The transport equations are solved numerically using the finite-volume approach along with the alternating direct implicit procedure. Comparisons with previously published work on the basis of special cases are performed and found to be in excellent agreement. The effect of suspended ultrafine metallic nanoparticles on the fluid flow and heat transfer processes within the enclosure is analyzed and effective thermal conductivity enhancement maps are developed for various controlling parameters. In addition, an analysis of variants based on the thermophysical properties of nanofluid is developed and presented. It is shown that the variances within different models have substantial effects on the results. Finally, a heat transfer correlation of the average Nusselt number for various Grashof numbers and volume fractions is presented.     

Use of oscillating heat pipe technique as extended surface in wire-on-tube heat exchanger for heat transfer enhancement

This paper presents the performance of a wire-on-tube heat exchanger of which the wire is an oscillating heat pipe. The experiments for this heat exchanger were performed in a wind tunnel by exchanging heat between hot water flowing inside the heat exchanger tubes and air stream flowing across the external surface. R123, methanol and acetone were selected as working fluids of the oscillating heat pipe. The inlet water temperature was varied from 45 to 85 °C while the inlet air temperature was kept constant at 25 °C.