Experimental and theoretical study of waste heat recovery from a refrigeration system using a finned helical coil heat exchanger

This paper is an experimental and theoretical study that aimed at conserving energy by utilizing the waste heat generated from a refrigeration system by calculating the range of condensation after the compression stage for the refrigerant (R410A). A helical coil tube‐shell heat exchanger was designed as a heat recovery unit to use the waste heat from an air conditioner 1TR (split type) in the outdoor unit between the compressor and the condenser to produce hot water and increase the coefficient of performance (COP) of the refrigeration cycle. Two experimental types of the helical coil heat exchanger (conventional and finned) were used in attempts to induce absorption of the rejected heat into tap water. The increase in the COP ranges from 12.5% to 40%, an increase in the water outlet temperatures difference reaches 12°C. A cost–benefit analysis in terms of the net present value and the payback period (PP) has been performed. From the analysis, it has been observed that the use of the designed heat recovery unit will save electrical consumption to produce the required hot water with a PP of about 11.7 months for the conventional heat exchanger and 17.5 months for the finned helical coil heat exchanger.     

Numerical study on heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of fluid flow in an inserted coiled tube type three fluid heat exchanger

The paper presents numerical investigations of a three fluid heat exchanger (TFHE), which is an improvement on the double pipe heat exchanger, where a helical tube is inserted in the annular space between two straight pipes. The helical tube side fluid, that is, hot water continuously transfers heat to the outer annulus side fluid and innermost tube side fluid. The heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of the TFHE are assessed for different flow rates and inlet temperatures. With an increment in the volumetric flow rate of the helical tube side fluid and outer annulus side fluid, the overall heat transfer coefficient increases, and the effectiveness decreases for heat transfer from the helical tube side fluid to outer annulus side fluid in both parallel flow and counter flow configurations. It is also observed that with increment in the helical tube side fluid inlet temperature, the overall heat transfer coefficient and effectiveness increases for heat transfer from the helical tube side fluid to outer annulus side fluid in both flow configurations. The parameter, JF factor, has been proposed to evaluate the thermohydraulic behavior of the TFHE, where it is obtained that the behavior of the TFHE is better at a lower helical tube side fluid velocity and higher outer annulus side fluid velocity.     

Performance Enhancement of Shell and Helical Coil Water Coolers Using Different Geometric and Fins Conditions

Experimental investigations of heat transfer characteristics and performance enhancement of shell and helical coil water coolers using external radial fins and different shells diameters were conducted. The study aims to enhance the water coolers performance in a trial to improve coil compactness. Two helical coils; one with a plain tube and the other with external radial fins, were tested in four shells of different tube diameters. Refrigerant passing inside the helical coils was used to cool water that enclose/passes in the space between the helical coil and the shell. Tests were conducted under mixed convection heat transfer regimes. Results showed performance and compactness enhancement with the insertion of external radial fins and increasing the shell diameter to helical coil diameter ratio. For nonfinned and finned coils, Nusselt number increased with increasing Reynolds number, Grashof number, and shell diameter. Correlations were predicted to give the Nusselt number in terms of Reynolds number, Grashof number, and shell diameters for finned and nonfinned helical coils. Correlations predictions were compared with present and previous experimental results and good agreements were obtained.     

四类螺旋翅片管束热力特性数值研究

对气流横掠螺旋翅片管错列管束的流动与换热特性进行了数值研究,在雷诺数Re=10 000～40 000范围比较了四类(连续型、平齿I型、平齿L型和扭齿型)螺旋翅片管束的换热、阻力及热力综合性能。结果表明:与常规的连续型管束相比,在相同Re下,平齿I型、平齿L型和扭齿型管束的努塞尔数Nu分别提高约24%、32%和38%,欧拉数Eu分别增大约24%、85%和90%;在相同的换热量、流体输运功耗和翅片管结构参数下,平齿I型、平齿L型和扭齿型管束所需的换热面积较之连续型管束所需的分别减小约9%、6%和12%,扭齿型表现最佳;在管束紧凑性方面,连续型、平齿I型和扭齿型管束无明显差别,但选用平齿L型会使管束体积相对增大约18%。     

Numerical evaluation and the effects of geometrical and operational parameters on thermal performance of the shell and double coil tube heat exchanger

Heat exchangers are extensively used in various industries. In this study, the impact of geometric and flow parameters on the performance of a shell and double helical coil heat exchanger is studied numerically. The investigated geometric parameters include external coil pitch, internal coil pitch, internal coil diameter, and coil diameter. The influences of considered geometrical parameters are analyzed on the output temperature of the hot and cold fluid, convective heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, and average Nusselt number. Water is considered as working fluid in both shell and tube. As an innovation, double helical coils are used instead of one in the heat exchanger. To compare the obtained results accurately, in each section, the heat transfer area (coil outer surface) is kept constant in all models. The results show that the geometrical parameters of double helical coils significantly affect the heat transfer rate.     

Experimental and numerical study of forced convection heat transfer in different internally ribbed tubes configuration using TiO2 nanofluid

TiO₂/water nanofluid is used together with a ribbed tube for heat transfer augmentation. This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation to study the influence of the ribs' pitch distance and ribbed tube configuration on heat transfer using TiO ₂ nanofluid in a turbulent regime with Reynolds numbers of 5000‐40 000. Meanwhile, the fluid properties are assumed to be constant with temperature under uniform heat flux. The average nanoparticle size is 50 nm and volume fractions of 0% to 1% are adopted. The study is accomplished by using the finite volume method, and its objective involves finding a low friction factor and high heat transfer enhancement in the presence of TiO ₂/water nanofluids. In comparison with the plain tube, a helical ribbed tube provides higher performance evaluation criteria (about 2.0%), while circumferentially ribbed tube provides 1.9% and longitudinal ribbed tube provides 1.88%. The helical ribbed tubes with a 5.89 mm pitch distance gave higher turbulent kinetic energy due to a stronger swirl intensity, resulting in a thinner thermal boundary layer and a higher Nusselt number with uniform distribution. The nonlinear models of friction factor and Nusselt number have been predicted with a maximum deviation of ±3% and ±2%, respectively.     

Heat transfer augmentation in 3D internally finned and microfinned helical tube

Experiments are performed to investigate the single-phase flow and flow-boiling heat transfer augmentation in 3D internally finned and micro-finned helical tubes. The tests for single-phase flow heat transfer augmentation are carried out in helical tubes with a curvature of 0.0663 and a length of 1.15 m, and the examined range of the Reynolds number varies from 1000 to 8500. Within the applied range of Reynolds number, compared with the smooth helical tube, the average heat transfer augmentation ratio for the two finned tubes is 71% and 103%, but associated with a flow resistance increase of 90% and 140%, respectively. A higher fin height gives a higher heat transfer rate and a larger friction flow resistance. The tests for flow-boiling heat transfer are carried out in 3D internally micro-finned helical tube with a curvature of 0.0605 and a length of 0.668 m. Compared with that in the smooth helical tube, the boiling heat transfer coefficient in the 3D internally micro-finned helical tube is increased by 40-120% under varied mass flow rate and wall heat flux conditions, meanwhile, the flow resistance is increased by 18-119%, respectively.     

Heat transfer and nanofluid flow characteristics through a circular tube fitted with helical tape inserts

Numerical investigations are performed using finite volume method to study laminar convective heat transfer and nanofluids flows through a circular tube fitted with helical tape insert. The wall of tube was subjected to a uniform heat flux boundary condition. The continuity, momentum and energy equations are discretized and the SIMPLE algorithm scheme is applied to link the pressure and velocity fields inside the domain for plain tube. Four different twist ratios of 1.95–4.89, two different types of nanoparticles, Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ with different nanoparticle shapes of spherical, cylindrical and platelets, and 0.5–2.0% volume fraction in base fluid (water) and nanoparticle diameter in the range of 20–50 nm were used to identify their effect on the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics through a circular tube fitted with helical tape insert geometries. The results indicate that the four types of nanofluid achieved higher Nusselt number than pure water. Nanofluid with Al₂O₃ particle achieved the highest Nusselt number. For all the cases studied, the Nusselt number increased with the increase of Reynolds number and with the decrease of twist ratio of helical tape insert.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer coefficient and friction factor of ethylene glycol water based TiO2 nanofluid in double pipe heat exchanger with and without helical coil inserts

Heat transfer coefficient and friction factor of TiO₂ nanofluid flowing in a double pipe heat exchanger with and without helical coil inserts are studied experimentally. The experiments are conducted in the range of Reynolds number from 4000 to 15,000 and in the volume concentration range from 0.0004% to 0.02%. The base fluid is prepared by considering 40% of ethylene glycol and 60% of distilled water. The heat transfer coefficient and friction factor get enhanced by 10.73% and 8.73% for 0.02% volume concentration of nanofluid when compared to base fluid flowing in a tube. Heat transfer coefficient and friction factor further get enhanced by 13.85% and 10.69% respectively for 0.02% nanofluid when compared to base fluid flowing in a tube with helical coil insert of P/d = 2.5. The measured values of heat transfer coefficient and friction factor are compared with the published literature. Based on the experimental data, generalized correlations are proposed for Nusselt number and friction factor. The results are presented in graphical and tabular form. Uncertainty analysis is also carried out and the experimental error is in the range of ± 10%.     

Heat transfer characteristics in a tube fitted with helical screw-tape with/without core-rod inserts

Effects of insertion of a helical screw-tape with or without core-rod in a concentric double tube heat exchanger on heat transfer and flow friction characteristics are experimentally investigated. The heat exchanger has the outer and the inner tube diameters of 50 mm (D_o) and 25 mm (D) where the cold and the hot waters used as the test fluids are in shell and tube sides, respectively. The stainless steel helical screw-tape has the geometrical dimensions of width (W) 17 mm with the clearance to the tube wall (D − W) / 2 = 4 mm. Thus, the insertion of the screw-tape in the tube is considered as a loose-fit. In the experiment, the loose-fit helical tape with or without core-rod, is inserted in the inner tube of the heat exchanger and the hot water enters the tube based on its Reynolds number in a range of 2000 to 12,000. The experimental results show that the increases in average Nusselt number of using the loose-fit, helical tape with and without core-rod are found to be 230% and 340%, respectively, over the corresponding plain tube. It is worth noting that for the loose-fit, helical tape without core-rod, the friction factor is around 50% less than that for the one with core-rod while the Nusselt number is about 50% higher. Furthermore, the enhancement efficiency of the helical screw-tapes varies between 1.00 and 1.17, 1.98 and 2.14, for the tapes with and without core-rod, respectively.     

Optimal design of a metal hydride hydrogen storage bed using a helical coil heat exchanger along with a central return tube during the absorption process

Metal-hydride (MH) reactors are one of the most promising approaches for hydrogen storage because of their low operating pressure, high storage volumetric density and high security. However, the heat transfer performance of the MH reactor for high hydrogenation rate is inferior. In this study, the heat transfer and hydrogen absorption process of metal hydride tank performance in Mg₂Ni bed is analyzed numerically using commercial ANSYS-FLUENT software. The MH reactor is considered a cylindrical bed including a helical tube along with a central straight return tube for the cooling fluid. The effects of geometrical parameters including the tube diameter, the pitch size and the coil diameter as well as operational parameters on the heat exchanged and hydrogen absorption reactive time are evaluated comprehensively. The results showed that the helical heat exchanger along with central return tube could effectively improve heat exchanged between the cooling fluid and the metal alloy and reduce the temperature of the bed results in a higher rate of hydrogen absorption. For a proper configuration and geometry of the helical coil heat exchanger with a central return tube, the absorption reaction time is reduced by 24% to reach 90% of the storage capacity. After the optimization study of the geometrical parameters, a system with the heat exchanger tube diameter of 5 mm, coil diameter of 18 mm and the coil pitch value of 10 mm is recommended to have lower hydrogen absorption time and higher hydrogen storage capacity. The presented MH reactor can be applied for improvement of heat exchange and absorption process in industrial MH reactors.     

Numerical evaluation of the heat transfer in a shell and corrugated coil tube heat exchanger with three various water-based nanofluids

In this paper, turbulence heat transfer and nanofluid flow in a shell and corrugated coil tube heat exchanger are evaluated numerically. The three-dimensional numerical simulations have been done by finite volume method using a commercial computational fluid dynamics code. The spatial discretization of mass, momentum, turbulence dissipation rate, and turbulence kinetic energy equations has been achieved by a second-order upwind scheme. A SIMPLE algorithm has been used for velocity–pressure coupling. To calculate gradients, Green-Gauss cell-based method has been utilized. The cross-section of the coil tube is lobe shaped. First, the impact of corrugated tube cross-section type and then, the impact of utilizing different types of nanofluid on thermal performance are investigated. The outcomes indicate that at high Reynolds number, utilizing a five-lobe cross-section causes augmentation in Nusselt number and pressure drop by about 4.8% and 3.7%, respectively. However, the three-lobe type shows the highest thermal performance. Moreover, water/CuO has the most thermal performance. As the volume concentration of the nanofluid increases, the thermal performance declines.     

Computation of thermal properties of CMSP shell and tube heat exchanger using different types of helical baffles

This paper investigates the flow and thermal properties of a combined multiple shell pass (CMSP)-shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE) with the provision of unilateral ladder-type helical baffle (ULHB) and continuous helical baffle (HB) in the outer shell pass of the heat exchanger. Two CMSP-STHEs with ULHB and HB, respectively, are compared with the traditional STHE having segmental baffles (SG-STHE) using the computational fluid dynamics method. The computational outcomes are validated with the empirical correlations of the Kern and Esso method. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes-based standard k–ω turbulence model accurately predicts the heat transfer (HT) rate and pressure drop. The computed results of HT rate, pressure drop, and logarithmic mean temperature difference corresponding to various mass flow rates (m) for three STHEs are presented. The results show that the overall HT rate of CMSP (ULHB)-STHE and the CMSP (HB)-STHE at the same mass flow rate are nearly 28.3% and 14.8% larger than that of traditional SG-STHE, respectively. Furthermore, the overall area-weighted average pressure drop (ΔP) of CMSP (HB)-STHE is smaller than that of SG-STHE by 26.5% at the same mass flow rate (m) and for CMSP (ULHB)-STHE it is larger by 2% than that of traditional STHE. Based on the above results, it is concluded that the CMSP (ULHB)-STHE is a suitable replacement for the conventional SG-STHEs.     

Experimental Study of Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop for H-type Finned Oval Tube with Longitudinal Vortex Generators and Dimples under Flue Gas

To enhance heat transfer and reduce fouling of the finned-tube surface in economizers of coal-fired power plants, heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics for H-type finned oval tube with longitudinal vortex generators (LVG) and dimples, both in-line and staggered arrangements, are studied experimentally under flue dust condition. In addition, the ash samples and heat exchanger surfaces after the test are analyzed to help understanding the ash fouling and tube wear mechanisms. Compared to the original H-type finned oval tube, the Nusselt number of H-type finned oval tube bank with longitudinal vortex generators and dimples is improved by 34.5–41.7% (in-line arrangement) and 28.1–31.7% (staggered arrangement) within the studied Reynolds numbers, while the Euler number is increased by 21.9–28.3% (in-line arrangement) and 19% (staggered arrangement) in the clean finned-tube surface state. In the stable fouling state, the Nusselt number is improved by 37.7–42.3% (in-line arrangement) and 27.8–45.1% (staggered arrangement), while the Euler number is increased by 22.9–25.2% (in-line arrangement) and 33.3–42% (staggered arrangement). The results show that the novel fin structures can both inhibit fouling and enhance heat transfer effectively.     

Heat transfer model of slurry ice melting on external surface of helical coil

This research studies the heat transfer phenomenon of melting slurry ice on external surface of a copper helical coil. There is water flowing inside the tube coil and exchanging heat with the slurry ice. In this experiment, the coil diameters are 6.35 mm and 9.53 mm each of 4.2 m coil length. The mass flow rate of water in the helical coil is between 0.0149–0.0562 kg/s, while the inlet temperature of water is varied in the range of 23–27 °C. The slurry ice has 60% ice and 40% water by mass at the starting.     

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF JET IMPINGEMENT WITH CROSS FLOW—COMPARISON OF YANG-SHIH AND STANDARD k–ϵ TURBULENCE MODELS

ABSTRACT

Computational fluid dynamics models are used to predict the heat transfer distribution on a smooth surface under an array of angled impinging jets. The three-dimensional numerical models simulate impingement with cross flow in one direction. Jet angle is varied between 30°, 60°, and 90° as measured from the smooth flat impingement surface. Conjugate conduction in the heated boundary is included in the analysis. Two turbulence models are examined, the standard k–? model and the Yang-Shih model. Local and average heat transfer coefficients are compared with test data for 30 test cases. The Yang-Shih model was able to predict average Nusselt number within 2–30%. The standard k–? model predicts average Nusselt number with 0 to nearly 60% error.     

Experimental Study on Air Cooling Via a Multiport Mesochannel Cross-Flow Heat Exchanger

The air-side heat transfer and flow characteristics of cross-flow multiport slab mesochannel heat exchanger are investigated experimentally in this article. The multiport slab mesochannel heat exchanger consists of 15 finned aluminum slabs; each slab contains 68 flow channels of 1 mm circular diameter. The cold deionized water at a constant mass flow rate was forced to flow through the mesochannels, whereas the hot air at different velocities was allowed to pass through the finned passages of the heat exchanger core in cross-flow orientation. The heat transfer and fluid flow key parameters were examined in the region of the air-side Reynolds number in the range of 972–2758, with a constant water-side Reynolds number of 135. The effect of air-side Reynolds number on air-side Nusselt number was examined and a general correlation of Nusselt number with Reynolds number was obtained. The Nusselt number value was found to be higher in comparison with other research works for the corresponding Reynolds number range. The multiport mesochannel flat slab geometry has offered uniform temperature distribution into the core. This uniform temperature distribution leads to higher heat transfer over stand-alone inline flow tube bank.     

On the performance of a vertical helical coil heat exchanger. Numerical model and experimental validation

A numerical model was developed in order to predict the heat transfer process and pressure drop in a vertical helical coil heat exchanger (HCHE) located inside a fluid storage tank in which water is used as inner and outer fluid. Natural convection was considered as boundary condition for the HCHE outer surface. The model was validated with experimental data obtained from an own facility with two HCHEs tested under several operating conditions. The model developed was used to evaluate the main HCHE representative geometrical parameter's influence on the overall heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. The results show that by increasing the tube diameter causes an increase of the Nusselt number and a larger heat transfer rate to pressure drop ratio is obtained.     

Numerical study of the intensified heat transfer of an internally longitudinal ridged finned tube under pulsating flow

The turbulent pulsating flow and heat transfer in an internally longitudinal protuberant finned tube was numerically investigated by solving unsteady three‐dimensional elliptical Navier–Stokes equations. The realized k–? turbulent model was adopted. The dynamic behaviors of velocity field, average Nusselt number, and friction number of the internally longitudinal protuberant finned tube were numerically analyzed in a pulsating period, and it was further investigated by changing the frequency of the pulsating flow. It was found that the intensity of heat transfer enhancement increases with an increase of pulsating frequency, while the pressure drop will be increased simultaneously, the intensification of heat transfer in internally longitudinal protuberant finned tubes are gradually better than the pressure drop with an increase of pulsating frequency. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20253