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.