Laminar heat transfer performance of power law fluids in coiled square tube with various configurations

This study addresses heat transfer performance of laminar non-Newtonian fluid flow in various configurations of coiled square tubes e.g., in-plane spiral ducts, helical spiral ducts and conical spiral ducts. The non-Newtonian fluid considered in this study is the aqueous solution of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) which is modeled as power-law fluid. Effects of tube geometries, power-law index (concentration of CMC) and other parameters are quantified and discussed to analyze flow behavior and heat transfer performance. Results are compared with those for a straight square tube of the same length as that used to form the coils. A Figure of Merit is defined to compare the heat transfer performance of different geometries with respect to the pumping power. The results suggest that CMC solution yields better heat transfer performance of about twice than that of water at Re ~ 1000. Among all considered designs, helical coil gives the best heat transfer performance; however, when the pumping power is considered, in-plane coil design performs the best in term of Figure of Merit.