Heat transfer enhancement by using a rectangular wing vortex generator on the triangular shaped fins of a plate‐fin heat exchanger

The present numerical analysis pertains to the heat transfer enhancement in a plate‐fin heat exchanger employing triangular shaped fins with a rectangular wing vortex generator on its slant surfaces. The study has been carried out for three different angles of attack of the wing, i.e., 15°, 20° and 26°. The aspect ratio of the wing is not varied with its angle of attack. The flow considered herein is laminar, incompressible, and viscous with the Reynolds number not exceeding 200. The pressure and the velocity components are obtained by solving the continuity and the Navier– Stokes equations by the Marker and Cell method. The present analysis reveals that the use of a rectangular wing vortex generator at an attack angle of 26° results in about a 35% increase in the combined spanwise average Nusselt number as compared to the plate‐triangular fin heat exchanger without any vortex generator. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20285     

Effect of a delta-winglet vortex pair on the performance of a tube–fin heat exchanger

The experimental analysis of the effects of delta-winglet vortex generators on the performance of a fin and tube radiator is presented. The winglets were arranged in flow-up configuration, and placed directly upstream of the tube. This is a hitherto untested configuration, but is thought to have certain advantages. In addition to vortex generation the flow is guided onto the tube surface increasing the localised velocity gradients and Nusselt numbers in this region. The study includes dye visualisation and full scale heat transfer performance measurements. The results are compared to a standard louvre fin surface. It was found that the winglet surface had 87% of the heat transfer capacity but only 53% of the pressure drop of the louvre fin surface.     

Thermal-economic multi-objective optimization of plate fin heat exchanger using genetic algorithm

Thermal modeling and optimal design of compact heat exchangers are presented in this paper. ε–NTU$\epsilon ''–''\mathit{NTU}$ method was applied to estimate the heat exchanger pressure drop and effectiveness. Fin pitch, fin height, fin offset length, cold stream flow length, no-flow length and hot stream flow length were considered as six design parameters. Fast and elitist non-dominated sorting genetic-algorithm (NSGA-II) was applied to obtain the maximum effectiveness and the minimum total annual cost (sum of investment and operation costs) as two objective functions. The results of optimal designs were a set of multiple optimum solutions, called ‘Pareto optimal solutions’. The sensitivity analysis of change in optimum effectiveness and total annual cost with change in design parameters of the plate fin heat exchanger was also performed and the results are reported. As a short cut for choosing the system optimal design parameters the correlations between two objectives and six decision variables with acceptable precision were presented using artificial neural network analysis.     

Multi‐objective optimization design of plate‐fin vapor generator for supercritical organic Rankine cycle

Supercritical organic Rankine cycle (SORC) is an improved ORC architecture with lower exergy destruction and better heat source utilization when compared with a subcritical one. The accurate design of its vapor generator is of critical importance due to the fact that heat transfer performance significantly affects thermal efficiency, power output, and size of the overall system. This paper aims to develop a mathematical model of the SORC vapor generator using plate‐fin heat exchanger. The finite volume method is applied to deal with the properties' variation problem of the supercritical fluids. Multi‐objective optimization is employed by the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II to find the optimum geometry design. The objective functions are the number of entropy production units, annual cost, and volume. For a specific SORC system, an optimum vapor generator is designed using the developed model. Parametric studies are conducted to assess the effect of geometry parameters on the vapor generator performance. The off‐design performance of the vapor generator is also evaluated under different mass flow rates and different heat source inlet temperature conditions.     

Effect of maximum and minimum heat capacity rate on entropy generation in a heat exchanger

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of a heat exchanger with a negligible fluid flow pressure drop to determine whether it is better to operate the heat exchanger with the minimum or maximum heat capacity rate of the hot fluid from entropy generation point of view. Entropy generation numbers are derived for both cases, and the results show that they are identical, when the heat exchanger is running at a heat capacity ratio of 0.5 with heat exchanger effectiveness equaling 1. An entropy generation number ratio is defined for the first time, which has a maximum value at ε = 1/(1+R) for any inlet temperature ratio. When R equals 0.1, 0.5 and 0.9, the entropy generation number ratio receives a maximum value at an effectiveness equaling 0.91, 0.67 and 0.526, respectively. When R=0.9, the entropy generation number ratio is the same for all inlet temperature ratios at ε=0.8. The results show that the entropy generation number ratio is far from 1 depending on the inlet temperature ratio of the cold and hot fluid. The results are valid for parallel‐flow and counterflow heat exchangers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heat transfer augmentation in a plate‐fin heat exchanger using a rectangular winglet

This study presents numerical computation results on laminar convection heat transfer in a plate‐fin heat exchanger, with triangular fins between the plates of a plate‐fin heat exchanger. The rectangular winglet type vortex generator is mounted on these triangular fins. The performance of the vortex generator is evaluated for varying angles of attack of the winglet i.e., 20, 26, and 37° and Reynolds number 100, 150, and 200. The computations are also performed by varying the geometrical size and location of the winglet. The complete Navier–Stokes equation and the energy equation are solved by the (Marker and Cell) MAC algorithm using the staggered grid arrangement. The constant wall temperature thermal boundary conditions are considered. Air is taken as the working fluid. The heat transfer enhancement is seen by introducing the vortex generator. Numerical results show that the average Nusselt number increases with an increase in the angle of attack and Reynolds number. For the same area of the LVG, the increase in length of the LVG brings more heat transfer enhancement than increasing the height. The increase in heat transfer comes with a moderate pressure drop penalty. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20318     

Experimental research on the effects of distributor configuration on flow distribution in plate‐fin heat exchangers

The effects of different distributor configurations on the flow distribution in plate‐fin heat exchangers were studied. It was found that an irrational distributor configuration would lead to the flow maldistribution and a different degree of non‐uniformity of the flow distribution in the transverse and longitudinal directions. The distributor configuration and Reynolds number are the main factors affecting the flow distribution. An improved distributor configuration with a fluid complementary cavity has been brought forward. The experimental results showed that the improved distributor configuration can effectively improve the performance of flow distribution in heat exchangers. The best performance of flow distribution was obtained at h/H = 0.2. The correlations between the flow maldistribution characteristic and the flow Reynolds number for different distributor configurations were deduced according to the experimental data. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 33(6): 402–410, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20023     

A multiobjective thermodynamic optimization of a nanoscale Stirling engine operated with Maxwell‐Boltzmann gas

Recent developments in nanotechnology provided an opportunity to solve many complex problems in the field of energy. Performance investigation of the nanoscale thermal cycles can prove crucial in the development of efficient and less polluting energy system. Due to the influence of boundary phenomenon and quantum degeneracy effects, a nanoscale engine performs according to statistical quantum thermodynamics instead of classical thermodynamics. In this study, a nanoscale Stirling engine operating on an ideal Maxwell‐Boltzmann gas is investigated for multiobjective optimization. Optimization problem of Stirling cycle is formed considering the thermal efficiency, ecological coefficient of performance and entropy generation. An application example of a nanoscale Stirling engine is presented and solved using Heat Transfer Search algorithm. Maxwell‐Boltzmann gas restricted in a finite domain is studied and the effect of different parameters, such as surface area ratio, volume ratio, and temperature ratio of the domain, is investigated. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the effect of design variables on the performance parameters. Further, influence of the source temperature and the number of particles of working fluid on the objective functions is studied and presented.     

Thermodynamic optimization of a coiled tube heat exchanger under constant wall heat flux condition

In this paper the second law analysis of thermodynamic irreversibilities in a coiled tube heat exchanger has been carried out for both laminar and turbulent flow conditions. The expression for the scaled non-dimensional entropy generation rate for such a system is derived in terms of four dimensionless parameters: Prandtl number, heat exchanger duty parameter, Dean number and coil to tube diameter ratio. It has been observed that for a particular value of Prandtl number, Dean number and duty parameter, there exists an optimum diameter ratio where the entropy generation rate is minimum. It is also found that with increase in Dean number or Reynolds number, the optimum value of the diameter ratio decreases for a particular value of Prandtl number and heat exchanger duty parameter.     

Numerical study of heat transfer enhancement and fluid flow with inline common‐flow‐down vortex generators in a plate‐fin heat exchanger

Three‐dimensional numerical simulations are performed on a plate‐fin heat exchanger (with triangular fins as inserts between the plates) to evaluate the laminar heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics with longitudinal vortex generators (LVGs). The effect with an inline rectangular winglet pair (RWP) with a common‐flow‐down (CFD) configuration is studied. The numerical results indicate that the application of inline LVGs effectively enhances the heat transfer of the channel. The heat transfer further increases with the increase in the Reynolds number from 200 to 500 and angle of attack from β = 15° to 22.5°. The computations are also performed to find the best location for the second RWP. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20414     

Numerical analysis reliability control for a double‐pipe heat exchanger with virtual entropy generation method

There are two primary laws including the first and second laws of thermodynamics that should be used to assess a process. Generally, only the first law of thermodynamics is investigated in numerical solutions, so it is possible to exist some numerical results that do not satisfy the second law of thermodynamics because of numerical errors. To achieve reliable numerical outcomes, it is better to apply two indexes of HEAT BALANCE ERROR and VIRTUAL ENTROPY GENERATION, which come from the second law of thermodynamics. In other words, an approach to develop computational fluid dynamics investigations is to take second law of thermodynamics into consideration. In this study, two different models including counterflow double‐pipe heat exchanger and single‐pipe with constant wall temperature are simulated in various cases with different efficiencies and temperature ratios. It is found that 46 cases of total 523 double‐pipe models and 24 cases of total 402 simulations of single‐pipe models had unacceptable results regarding to two mentioned criteria. The results revealed that it is less likely to gain unreliable results in smaller efficiency and lower inlet temperature for double‐pipe heat exchanger and single‐pipe respectively.     

Multi‐objective genetic algorithm optimization of thermoelectric heat exchanger for waste heat recovery

A model is developed to simulate a cross‐flow heat exchanger, including fins, in the wall of which thermoelectric generators are sandwiched. Such a system could be used for waste heat recovery. The model is used to optimize the device based on several objective functions: total volume, total number of thermoelectric modules, power output, and pumping power. The design variables are the local distribution of modules and of current, the shape of the fins, and the division of the heat exchanger in sub‐channels. Pareto fronts are achieved with a multi‐objective genetic algorithm, and are presented here. The results show that the number of sub‐channels in the heat exchanger has a larger impact on the overall performance than the fin geometry for this particular problem. Also, the net power output is mostly correlated to the number of thermoelectric modules, and less to the heat exchanger volume. Various relations between the different competing objectives are shown and analyzed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of Nusselt number and effectiveness of double‐pipe heat exchanger with Al2O3–, CuO–, TiO2–, and ZnO–water based nanofluids

This paper deals with experimental studies carried out to analyze heat transfer characteristics of Al₂O₃–, CuO–, TiO₂–, and ZnO–water based nanofluids in a double‐pipe, counter flow heat exchanger for different volume concentrations (0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1%) of the nanofluids. The fabricated double‐pipe heat exchanger is made up of two different materials, viz., copper as the inner tube and unplasticized polyvinyl chloride as the outer tube. The density, viscosity, and thermal conductivity were calculated, and were used to estimate dimensionless numbers, such as Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and Nusselt number, and also to estimate heat exchanger effectiveness. High‐energy ball milling technique was used to prepare nanoparticles and were characterized using X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Polyvinyl alcohol (3%) was used as a surfactant for making the nanofluids stable. It was observed from the experiment that with the increase in the volume concentration, thermal conductivity, viscosity, and friction factor increase, whereas the Reynolds number decreases. The experimentally observed data for Nusselt number were formulated into a correlation that matches the data for all these nanofluids within an error of 11.4%. It was found that the highest effectiveness was obtained while using TiO₂–water nanofluids than other nanofluids.     

A numerical study of flow behavior in the shell and helical finned-tube heat exchanger

Extended surfaces mostly aim to improve the heat transfer upon increasing the area of heat transfer. In this paper, the influence of using fins on flow behaviors and the heat transfer of the shell and tube heat exchanger has been investigated. In this regard, the present results are verified with available experimental data in the literature for a helical tube without fins. The effects of fin density (fin per inch), its height, and material have been studied on the heat transfer rate. In addition, the effects of radial pitch and the number of coil loops are studied. The results indicate that implementing extended surfaces significantly increases the heat transfer rate. The increase of fin density from 8 to 12 and the height from 11.5 to 13.5 mm enhances heat transfer up to 48% and 43% depending on Dean number, respectively. The rise of coil pitch augments the overall heat transfer, and it is more efficient at lower Dean numbers. The predicted results also show that the fin material does not have any significant effect on heat transfer.     

Investigation on the heat transfer characteristics of propylene glycol–water mixture in the shell side of a spiral‐wound heat exchanger

The heat transfer characteristics of propylene glycol–water (PG–W) mixture (10%, 20%, and 30% propylene glycol) on the shell side of a spiral‐wound heat exchanger (SWHE) were investigated experimentally. Among the SWHE selected, there are 18 twined tubes with a diameter of 8 mm. PG–W mixture is on the shell side and water is on the tube side. The results show that the heat transfer coefficient of PG–W mixture flowing downwards is higher than upwards under countercurrent conditions. The heat transfer coefficient decreases with the increasing of concentration of PG–W mixture. When the inclination angle of the SWHE is 90°, the heat transfer coefficient of PG–W mixture is the largest; and when the inclination angle is less than 90°, the heat transfer coefficient decreases with the decrease of inclination angle. The inclination angle has a great effect on the heat transfer coefficient at a high concentration. The fitting correlation equations between Nu, Re, Pr, and inclination angles of SWHE are established.     

The heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of a heat exchanger for recovering latent heat (the heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of the heat exchanger with wing fin)

In recent years the requirement for reduction of energy consumption has been increasing to solve the problems of global warming and the shortage of petroleum resources. A latent heat recovery type heat exchanger is one of the effective methods of improving thermal efficiency by recovering latent heat. This paper described the heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of a latent heat recovery type heat exchanger having a wing fin (fin pitch: 4 mm, fin length: 65 mm). These were clarified by measuring the exchange heat quantity, the pressure loss of heat exchanger, and the heat transfer coefficient between outer fin surface and gas. The effects of condensate behavior in the fins on heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics were clarified. Furthermore, the equations for predicting the heat transfer coefficient and pressure loss which are necessary in the design of the heat exchanger were proposed. ©2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 36(4): 215–229, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20154     

Enhancement of shell side forced convective heat transfer in the shell tube‐type heat exchanger using thin plate‐type supports

The shell side heat transfer and pressure drop in counterflowing water were experimentally investigated on the basis of the overall heat transfer coefficient. The investigation was intended to identify ways to get higher performance for the cooler in a BWR nuclear power plant. The following three conclusions were reached in the study. (1) Predicted performance of the heat exchanger, using the overall heat transfer coefficient based on the outside area of the tube K_o, indicated an enhancement by 92% compared with the measured performance of the conventional segmental baffle‐type heat exchanger. (2) The tube side pressure drop ΔP_t=20 kPa and the shell side pressure drop ΔP_s=70 kPa were obtained, and were within the allowable value ΔP_a=80 kPa. The shell side pressure drop of the low‐pressure drop spacer could be decreased by 20% as compared with that of the standard spacer. (3) The enhancement constant of the shell side heat transfer using the low‐pressure drop spacer was about 1.2 times as large as that of the standard spacer, regardless of the pumping power. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 32(5): 455–471, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10097     

Heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of a heat exchanger for recovering latent heat (effects of straight fin length and fin pitch on the heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics)

In recent years, the requirement for the reduction of energy consumption has been increasing to solve the problems of global warming and the shortage of petroleum resources. A latent heat recovery type heat exchanger is one of the effective methods for improving thermal efficiency by recovering latent heat. This paper describes the heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of a latent heat recovery type heat exchanger having straight fins (fin length: 65 mm or 100 mm, fin pitch: 2.5 mm or 4 mm). These were clarified by measuring the exchange heat quantity, the pressure loss of the heat exchanger, and the heat transfer coefficient between the outer fin surface and gas. The effects of fin length and fin pitch on heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics were clarified. Furthermore, equations for predicting the heat transfer coefficient and pressure loss which are necessary for heat exchanger design were proposed. ©2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 36(4): 230– 247, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20153 Copyright © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Design and investigation of hydriding alloy based hydrogen storage reactor integrated with a pin fin tube heat exchanger

The reaction between metal hydride (MH) and hydrogen gas generates substantial amount of heat. It must be removed rapidly to sustain the reaction in the metal hydride hydrogen storage reactor. Previous studies indicate that the performance of the reactor can be improved by inserting an efficient heat exchanger design inside the metal hydride bed. In the present study, a cylindrical shaped metal hydride system containing LaNi₅, integrated with a finned tube heat exchanger assembly made of copper pin fins and tubes, is presented. A 3-D numerical model is formulated in COMSOL Multiphysics 4.4 to study the transient behavior of sorption process inside the reactor. Experimental data obtained from the literature is used to approve the legitimacy of the proposed model. Influence of various operating and geometric parameters on the total absorption time of the reactor has been investigated. It is found that hydrogen supply pressure is the most influencing factor to increase the absorption rate of hydrogen. Total absorption time of the reactor is found to be 636 s with maximum storage capacity of 1.4 wt% at the operating conditions of 15 bar H₂ gas supply pressure, heat transfer fluid temperature of 298 K and flow rate of 6.75 l/min.     

Optimal design analysis of a tubular heat exchanger network with extended surfaces using multi-objective constructal optimization

The present work aims to investigate the influence of extended surfaces (fins) on the multi-objective optimization of a tubular heat exchanger network (THEN). An increase in the heat transfer area using various extended surfaces (fins) to enhance the performance of the heat exchanger was used while considering the effectiveness and total heat transfer area as two objective functions. In addition to the simulation of simple fins, a new set of fins, called constructal fins, was designed based on the constructal theory. Tubular heat exchanger network design parameters were chosen as optimization variables, and optimization results were achieved in such a way as to enhance the effectiveness and decrease the total heat transfer area. The results show the importance of constructal fins in improving the objective functions of heat exchangers. For instance, the simple fins case enhances the effectiveness by up to 5.3% compared to that without fins (usual heat exchanger) while using constructal fins, in addition to the 7% increment of effectiveness, reduces the total heat transfer area by 9.47%. In order to optimize the heat exchanger, the heat transfer rate and cold fluid temperature must increase, and at the same time, the hot exiting fluid temperature should decrease at the same constant total heat transfer area, which is higher in the constructal fins case. Finally, optimized design variables were studied for different cases, and the effects of various fins were reported.