Enhanced heat transfer with full circumferential ribs in helical pipe

This paper describes an experimental study of heat transfers in the smooth-walled and rib-roughened helical pipes with reference to the design of enhanced cooling passages in the cylinder head and liner of a marine propulsive diesel engine. The manner in which the repeated ribs modify the forced heat convection in the helical pipe is considered for the case where the flow is turbulent upon entering the coil but laminar in further downstream. A selection of experimental results illustrates the individual and interactive effects of Dean vortices and rib-flows on heat transfer along the inner and outer helixes of coils. The experimental-based observations reveal that the centrifugal force modifies the heat transfer in a manner to generate circumferential heat transfer variation with better cooling performance on the outer edge relative to its inner counterpart even with the agitated flow field caused by the repeated ribs. Heat transfer augmentation factor in the range of 1.3 ~ 3 times of the smooth-walled level is achieved using the present ribbing geometry. A set of empirical correlations based on the experimental data has been developed to permit the evaluation of heat transfers along the inner and outer helixes of the smooth-walled and rib-roughened helical pipes.