Large eddy simulation of turbulent flow and heat transfer in outward transverse and helically corrugated tubes

Turbulent flow and heat transfer in outward transverse and helically corrugated tubes are performed with large eddy simulation by the ANSYS Fluent software. The prediction accuracy is validated by comparison with experimental data and empirical correlations for a wavy surface wall and smooth tube, respectively. The turbulent flow patterns, local heat transfer, and friction factor are discussed. The results show that the secondary and turbulent eddies are inhibited by the spiral flow. Otherwise, the flow impact of the wall is the key factor for heat transfer enhancement, and the spiral flow has of small effect on heat transfer performance, however it can decrease the flow resistance significantly. The overall heat transfer performance for the helical corrugated tube is 1.23, which is superior to the value of 1.18 for the transverse corrugated tube.     

Numerical investigation on conjugate heat transfer to supercritical CO2 in membrane helical coiled tube heat exchangers

ABSTRACT

Conjugate heat transfer to supercritical CO₂ in membrane helical coiled tube heat exchangers has been numerically investigated in the present study. The purpose is to provide detailed information on the conjugate heat transfer behavior for a better understanding of the abnormal heat transfer mechanism of supercritical fluid. It could be concluded that the supercritical fluid mass flux and vertical/horizontal placement would significantly affect the abnormal heat transfer phenomenon in the tube side. The flow field of supercritical fluid is affected by both the buoyancy and centrifugal force in the conjugate heat transfer process. The local wall temperature and heat transfer coefficient in the tube side would rise and fall periodically for the horizontal heat exchanger, but this phenomenon will gradually disappear with the increase of the mass flow rate or fluid temperature in the tube side. The dual effects of buoyancy force and centrifugal force lead to the deflection of the second flow direction for the vertical placement, which further results in the heat transfer deterioration region on the top-generatrix wall for the downward flow being larger than that for the upward flow.     

Investigation of natural convection induced outer side heat transfer rate of coiled-tube heat exchangers

Natural convection induced heat transfer has been studied over the outer surface of helically coiled-tube heat exchangers. Several different geometrical configurations (curvature ratio δ ε [0.035, 0.082]) and a wide range of flow parameters (60 <= T_tank <= 90, T_in = 19 and 60 <= T_in <= 90, T_tank = 20, 4000 <= Re <= 45000) have been examined to broaden the validity of the results gained from this research. A fluid-to-fluid boundary condition has been applied in the numerical calculations to create the most realistic flow configurations. Validity of the numerical calculations has been tested by experiments available in the open literature. Calculated results of the inner side heat transfer rate have also been compared to existing empirical formulas and experimental results to test the validity of the numerical computation in an independent way from the outer side validation of common helical tube heat exchangers. Water has been chosen to the working fluid inside and outside of the coiled tube (3 < Pr < 7). Outer side heat transfer rate along the helical tube axis has been investigated to get information about the performance of the heat transport process at different location of the helical tube. It was found that the outer side heat transfer rate is slightly dependent on the inner flow rate of any helical tube in case of increasing temperature differences between the tank working fluid temperature and the coil inlet temperature. A stable thermal boundary layer has been found along the axial direction of the tube.In addition to this the qualitative behavior of the peripherally averaged Nusselt number versus the axial location along the helical tube function is strongly dependent on the direction of the heat flow (from the tube to the storage tank and the reversed direction). Inner side heat transfer rate of helical coils have also been investigated in case of fluid-to-fluid boundary conditions and the calculation results have been compared with different prediction formulas published in the last couples of decades.     

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.     

Thermal performance and pressure drop of the helical-coil heat exchangers with and without helically crimped fins

In the present study, the thermal performance and pressure drop of the helical-coil heat exchanger with and without helical crimped fins are studied. The heat exchanger consists of a shell and helically coiled tube unit with two different coil diameters. Each coil is fabricated by bending a 9.50 mm diameter straight copper tube into a helical-coil tube of thirteen turns. Cold and hot water are used as working fluids in shell side and tube side, respectively. The experiments are done at the cold and hot water mass flow rates ranging between 0.10 and 0.22 kg/s, and between 0.02 and 0.12 kg/s, respectively. The inlet temperatures of cold and hot water are between 15 and 25 °C, and between 35 and 45 °C, respectively. The cold water entering the heat exchanger at the outer channel flows across the helical tube and flows out at the inner channel. The hot water enters the heat exchanger at the inner helical-coil tube and flows along the helical tube. The effects of the inlet conditions of both working fluids flowing through the test section on the heat transfer characteristics are discussed.     

An experimental study of thermal performance of shell-and-coil heat exchangers

In the present study an experimental investigation of the mixed convection heat transfer in a coil-in-shell heat exchanger is reported for various Reynolds and Rayleigh numbers, various tube-to-coil diameter ratios and dimensionless coil pitch. The purpose of this article is to assess the influence of the tube diameter, coil pitch, shell-side and tube-side mass flow rate over the performance coefficient and modified effectiveness of vertical helical coiled tube heat exchangers. The calculations have been performed for the steady-state and the experiments were conducted for both laminar and turbulent flow inside coil. It was found that the mass flow rate of tube-side to shell-side ratio was effective on the axial temperature profiles of heat exchanger. The results also indicate that the ? − NTU relation of the mixed convection heat exchangers was the same as that of a pure counter-flow heat exchanger.     

Heat Transfer and Entropy Generation in Concentric/Eccentric Double-Pipe Helical Heat Exchangers

Abstract

Double-pipe helical heat exchangers are integral to contemporary mechanical refrigeration equipment. Modification of flow geometry has been widely adopted to enhance heat transfer performance of a heat exchanger. The objective of this study is to numerically investigate heat transfer and entropy generation in a double pipe helical heat exchanger with various cross-sections. A computational model for laminar convective heat transfer was developed and validated against the results from previously published literature. To capture entropy generation, the entropy balance equation for open system is adopted. Effect of inner pipe Dean number, inner pipe and annulus inlet mass flow rate ratio, eccentricity, and flow configuration (co-flow and counter-flow) were examined and discussed in light of computational results. To ensure fair comparison, the considered geometries have same inner pipe cross-section area, same annulus cross-section area, and same outer surface area of inner pipe. The results suggest that square cross-section offers best performance in term of heat transfer, pressure drop and entropy generation. In addition, concentric configuration is more appropriate for low flow rate application while eccentric outer configuration is more suitable for high flow rate application.     

Thermal and hydraulic characteristics of nanofluid flow in a helically coiled tube heat exchanger

The effects of using different geometrical parameters with the combination of nanofluid on heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics in a helically coiled tube heat exchanger (HCTHE) are numerically investigated. A CuO nanoparticle with a diameter of 25 nm dispersed in water with a particle concentration of 4% was used as the working fluid. The three dimensional governing equations (continuity, momentum and energy) along with the boundary conditions are solved using the finite volume method (FVM). The mass flow rate of water in the annulus was kept constant and the nanofluid flow rate in the inner tube was varied. The effect of flow configuration (parallel and counter) was also examined in this study. The performance of the HCTHE was evaluated in terms of Nusselt number, heat transfer rate, pressure drop, effectiveness and performance index. The results reveal that certain geometrical parameters such as the helix radius and inner tube diameter do affect the performance of the HCTHE under laminar flow conditions. It is also found that counter-flow configuration produced better results as compared to parallel-flow configuration.     

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.     

Numerical study of an exhaust heat recovery system using corrugated tube heat exchanger with twisted tape inserts

The purpose of this work is to investigate gas to liquid heat transfer performance of concentric tube heat exchanger with twisted tape inserted corrugated tube and to evaluate its impact on engine performance and economics through heat recovery from the exhaust of a heavy duty diesel generator (120 ekW rated load). This type of heat exchanger is expected to be inexpensive to install and effective in heat transfer and to have minimal effect on exhaust emissions of diesel engines. This type of heat exchanger has been investigated for liquid to liquid heat transfer at low Reynolds number by few investigators, but not for gas to liquid heat transfer. In this paper, a detail of heat transfer performance is investigated through simulations using computer software. The software is first justified by comparing the simulation results with the developed renowned correlations. Simulations are then conducted for concentric tube heat exchanger with different twisted tape configuration for optimal design. The results show that the enhancement in the rate of heat transfer in annularly corrugated tube heat exchanger with twisted tape is about 235.3% and 67.26% when compared with the plain tube and annularly corrugated tube heat exchangers without twisted tapes respectively. Based on optimal results, for a 120 ekW diesel generator, the application of corrugated tube with twisted tape concentric tube heat exchanger can save 2250 gal of fuel, $11,330 of fuel cost annually and expected payback of 1 month. In addition, saving in heating fuel also reduces in CO₂ emission by 23 metric tons a year.     

氦气冲刷螺旋管束传热的数值研究

采用CFD软件对氦气冲刷螺旋管束的传热特性进行了数值模拟。计算时采用了轴对称简化模型;湍流模拟采用低Re k-ε模型。通过与实验数据对比,发现低Re模型比壁面函数法更适合计算冲刷管束类型的流动。计算结果表明,顺排管束前几层平均Nu高于叉排管束,而深层管平均Nu低于叉排管束;管列距离较大时排列方式对深层管的传热影响很小;管束与边界距离约为管束中心部分氦气流道宽度的一半时,各列传热管传热和氦气出口温度都较为均匀;管束横向位置发生偏移将导致管束内流动、传热出现不均匀。结果对于螺旋管蒸汽发生器设计具有参考意义。     

Thermally dependent viscosity and non-Newtonian flow in a double-pipe helical heat exchanger

A double-pipe helical heat exchanger was numerically studied to determine the effects of thermally dependent viscosity and non-Newtonian flows on heat transfer and pressure drop for laminar flow. Thermally dependent viscosities were found to have very little effect on the Nusselt number correlations for Newtonian fluids; however significant effects on the pressure drop in the heat exchanger were predicted. Changing the flow rate in the annulus can significantly affect the pressure drop in the inner tube, since the average viscosity of the fluid in the inner tube would change due to the change in the average temperature.The effects of non-Newtonian power law fluids on the heat transfer and the pressure drop were determined for laminar flow in the inner tube and in the annulus. The Nusselt number was correlated with the Péclet number for heat transfer in the inner tube. For the annulus, the Nusselt number was found to correlate best with the Péclet number and the curvature ratio. Pressure drop data were compared by using ratios of the pressure drop of the non-Newtonian fluid to a Newtonian fluid at identical mass flow rates and consistency indices.     

Numerical investigation of heat transfer and pressure drop in enhanced tubes

This study investigates passive heat transfer enhancement techniques to determine the distribution of temperature and static pressure in test tubes, the friction factor, the heat flux, the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet fluid temperatures, the pressure drop penalty and the numerical convective heat transfer coefficient, and then compares the results to the experimental data of Zdaniuk et al. It predicts the single-phase friction factors for the smooth and enhanced tubes by means of the empirical correlations of Blasius and Zdaniuk et al. This study performed calculations on a smooth tube and two helically finned tubes with different geometric parameters also used in the analyses of Zdaniuk et al. It also performed calculations on two corrugated tubes in the simulation study. In Zdaniuk et al.'s experimental setup, the horizontal test section was a 2.74 m long countercurrent flow double tube heat exchanger with the fluid of water flowing in the inner copper tube (15.57–15.64 mm i.d.) and cooling water flowing in the annulus (31.75 mm i.d.). Their test runs were performed at a temperature around 20 °C for cold water flowing in the annulus while Reynolds numbers ranged from 12,000 to 57,000 for the water flowing in the inner tube. A single-phase numerical model having three-dimensional equations is employed with either constant or temperature dependent properties to study the hydrodynamics and thermal behaviors of the flow. The temperature contours are presented for inlet, outlet and fully developed regions of the tube. The variations of the fluid temperature and static pressure along tube length are shown in the paper. The results obtained from a numerical analysis for the helically tubes were validated by various friction factor correlations, such as those found by Blasius and Zdaniuk et al. Then, numerical results were obtained for the two corrugated tubes as a simulation study. The present study found that the average deviation is less than 5% for the friction factors obtained by the Fluent CFD program while Blasius's correlation has the average deviation of less than 10%. The corrugated tubes have a higher heat transfer coefficient than smooth tubes but a lower coefficient than helically finned tubes. The paper also investigates the pressure drop penalty for the heat transfer enhancement.     

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.     

螺旋槽管凝结换热器的研究与应用

通过对螺旋槽管凝结换热器的试验研究,得到了螺旋槽管涉及相变时管内对流换热、管外凝结换热准则关联式以及管内流动阻力关联式,并依据试验结果,将螺旋槽管应用于电站凝结换热器,取得了满意的效果。     

Heat transfer and pressure drop performance of twisted oval tube heat exchanger

Twisted oval tube heat exchanger is a type of heat exchanger that aims at improving the heat transfer coefficient of the tube side and also decreasing the pressure drop of the shell side. In the present work, tube side and shell side heat transfer and pressure drop performances of a twisted oval tube heat exchanger has been experimentally studied. The tube side study shows that the tube side heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in a twisted oval tube are both higher than in a smooth round tube. The shell side study shows that the lower the modified Froude number Fr_M, the higher the shell side heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. In order to comparatively analyze its shell side performance of the heat exchanger, a rod baffle heat exchanger with similar size of the twisted oval tube heat exchanger is designed and its performance is calculated with Gentry's method. The comparative study shows that the heat transfer coefficient of the twisted oval tube heat exchanger is higher and the pressure drop is lower than the rod baffle heat exchanger. In order to evaluate the overall performance of the twisted oval tube heat exchanger, a performance evaluation criterion considering both the tube side and shell side performance of a heat exchanger is proposed and applied. The analyze of the overall performance of the twisted oval tube shows that the twisted oval tube heat exchangers works more effective at low tube side flow rate and high shell side flow rate.     

Fluid flow analysis and extension of rapid design algorithm for helical baffle heat exchangers

“Shell-and-tube heat exchanger with helical baffles” is one of the new technologies used to improve the performance of common heat exchangers with segmental baffles. In this paper, after a short introduction of the technology, investigations of fluid flow pattern are carried out. By creating different arrangements of the helical baffles, the comparison between these types of baffles and the segmental one has been performed. Then, by using derived pressure drop relationship and the rapid design algorithm, some equations for both turbulent and laminar regimes are developed which relate pressure drop to heat transfer coefficient and heat transfer area. With the help of these relationships a straightforward design procedure has been developed.     

Turbulent heat transfer enhancement in a heat exchanger using helically corrugated tube

The augmentation of convective heat transfer in a single-phase turbulent flow by using helically corrugated tubes has been experimentally investigated. Effects of pitch-to-diameter ratio (P/D_H = 0.18, 0.22 and 0.27) and rib-height to diameter ratio (e/D_H = 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06) of helically corrugated tubes on the heat transfer enhancement, isothermal friction and thermal performance factor in a concentric tube heat exchanger are examined. The experiments were conducted over a wide range of turbulent fluid flow of Reynolds number from 5500 to 60,000 by employing water as the test fluid. Experimental results show that the heat transfer and thermal performance of the corrugated tube are considerably increased compared to those of the smooth tube. The mean increase in heat transfer rate is between 123% and 232% at the test range, depending on the rib height/pitch ratios and Reynolds number while the maximum thermal performance is found to be about 2.3 for using the corrugated tube with P/D_H = 0.27 and e/D_H = 0.06 at low Reynolds number. Also, the pressure loss result reveals that the average friction factor of the corrugated tube is in a range between 1.46 and 1.93 times over the smooth tube. In addition, correlations of the Nusselt number, friction factor and thermal performance factor in terms of pitch ratio (P/D_H), rib-height ratio (e/D_H), Reynolds number (Re), and Prandtl number (Pr) for the corrugated tube are determined, based on the curve fitting of the experimental data.     

Heat transfer and entropy analysis of three different types of heat exchangers operated with nanofluids

The development of nanotechnology has witnessed an emergence of new generation of heat transfer fluids known as nanofluids. Nanofluids are used as coolants which provide excellent thermal performance in shell and tube heat exchangers. However, the viscosity of these fluids increases with the addition of nanoparticles. Furthermore, the performance of these heat exchangers is influenced by the arrangement of baffles. Thus, in this paper, the study focuses on the heat transfer and entropy analysis of segmental, 25° and 50 helical baffles shell and tube heat exchangers. Heat transfer rate of the 25 helical baffles heat exchanger found to be the highest among the three heat exchangers studied in this research. Study indicates that shell and tube heat exchanger with 50° helical baffles exhibits lowest entropy generation among three different heat exchangers.     

Heat transfer characteristics of a temperature-dependent-property fluid in shell and coiled tube heat exchangers

An experimental investigation was performed to study the heat transfer characteristics of temperature-dependent-property engine-oil inside shell and coiled tube heat exchangers. For this purpose, a well-instrumented set-up was designed and constructed. Three heat exchangers with different coil pitches were selected as the test section for counter-flow configuration. Engine-oil was circulated inside the inner coiled tube, while coolant water flowed in the shell. All the required parameters like inlet and outlet temperatures of tube-side and shell-side fluids, flow rate of fluids, etc were measured using appropriate instruments. An empirical correlation existed in the previous literature for evaluating the shell-side Nusselt number was invoked to calculate the heat transfer coefficients of the temperature-dependent-property fluid flowing in the tube-side of the heat exchangers. Using the data of the present study, an empirical correlation was developed to predict the heat transfer coefficients of the temperature-dependent-property fluid flowing inside the shell and coiled tube heat exchangers.