Heat transfer enhancement in cross-flow heat exchangers using oval tubes and multiple delta winglets

Micro heat exchangers have been revealed to be efficient devices for improved heat transfer due to short heat transfer distances and increased surface-to-volume ratios. Further augmentation of the heat transfer behaviour within microstructured devices can be achieved with heat transfer enhancement techniques, and more precisely for this study, with passive enhancement techniques. Pin fin geometries influence the flow path and, therefore, were chosen as the option for further improvement of the heat transfer performance. The augmentation of heat transfer with micro heat exchangers was performed with the consideration of an improved heat transfer behaviour, and with additional pressure losses due to the change of flow path (pin fin geometries). To capture the impact of the heat transfer, as well as the impact of additional pressure losses, an assessment method should be considered. The overall exergy loss method can be applied to micro heat exchangers, and serves as a simple assessment for characterization. Experimental investigations with micro heat exchanger structures were performed to evaluate the assessment method and its importance. The heat transfer enhancement was experimentally investigated with microstructured pin fin geometries to understand the impact on pressure loss behaviour with air.

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Diamond-Shaped Extended Fins for Heat Transfer Enhancement in a Double-Pipe Heat Exchanger: An Innovative Design

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11135954 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (13) ◽

pp. 5954

Author(s):

Muhammad Ishaq ◽

Amjad Ali ◽

Muhammad Amjad ◽

Khalid Saifullah Syed ◽

Zafar Iqbal

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Heat Transfer Enhancement ◽

Heat Exchangers ◽

Adaptive Finite Element Method ◽

Transfer Enhancement ◽

Enhanced Heat Transfer ◽

Frictional Loss ◽

Special Cases ◽

Double Pipe ◽

Pipe Heat

Heat transfer enhancement in heat exchangers results in thermal efficiency and energy saving. In double-pipe heat exchangers (DPHEs), extended or augmented fins in the annulus of the two concentric pipes, i.e., at the outer surface of the inner pipe, are used to extend the surface of contact for enhancing heat transfer. In this article, an innovative diamond-shaped design of extended fins is proposed for DPHEs. This type of fin is considered for the first time in the design of DPHEs. The triangular-shaped and rectangular-shaped fin designs of DPHE, available in the literature, can be recovered as special cases of the proposed design. An h-adaptive finite element method is employed for the solution of the governing equations. The results are computed for various performance measures against the emerging parameters. The results dictate that the optimal configurations of the diamond-shaped fins in the DPHE for an enhanced heat transfer are recommended as follows: If around 4–6, 8–12, or 16–32 fins are to be placed in the DPHE, then the height of the fins should be 20%, 80%, or 100%, respectively, of the annulus width. If frictional loss of heat is also to be considered, then for fin-heights of 20–80% and 100% of the annulus width, the placement of 4 and 8 diamond-shaped fins, respectively, is recommended for an enhanced heat transfer. These recommendations are for the radii ratio (i.e., the ratio of the inner pipe radius to that of the outer pipe) of 0.25. The recommendations are be modified if the radii ratio is altered.

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