Effect of partially wet-surface condition on the performance of fin-tube heat exchanger

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 3938-3958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed Abdolkarim Payambarpour ◽  
Mohammad Alhuyi Nazari ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi ◽  
Ali J. Chamkha

Purpose This study aims to investigate heat and mass transfer in a one-row heat exchanger. The required equations are obtained based on two-dimensional model analysis in a cell of the heat exchanger. By using finite difference approach, the obtained equations are solved to determine distribution of temperature and the efficiency of the heat exchanger in the case of partially wet surface. In this research, Lewis Number as unity and water vapor saturation as parabolic are assumed. Obtained results show that increase in thermal conductivity fin leads to decreasing thermal resistance; therefore, temperature changes in radial from center to out of fin are reduced and efficiency of fin increases. Design/methodology/approach In this regard, fin material plays a significant role in fin efficiency. Changes in airflow also result in an efficiency increase by temperature and relative humidity, and efficiency is decreased by airflow velocity increase, and these changes are almost linear. Moreover, the fins with more wet surface are more sensitive to changes in fin dimensions and air flow characteristics, and it is a result of conjugate heat transfer mechanism, in which latent heat transfer in the fins with more wet surface has a significant role. Findings Thermal property and geometry of the fin under wet conditions play a more important role than the fin under dry conditions. Changes in airflow result in an efficiency increase by temperature and relative humidity, and efficiency is decreased by airflow velocity increase, and these changes are almost linear. Fins with more wet surface are more sensitive to changes in fin dimensions and air flow characteristics. Originality/value Effects of the temperature of water supply and mass flow rate were considered in the study. The results had good agreement with actual data.

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1 Part A) ◽  
pp. 375-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raviwat Srisomba ◽  
Lazarus Asirvatham ◽  
Omid Mahian ◽  
Ahmet Dalkılıç ◽  
Mohamed Awad ◽  
...  

The effects of operating conditions on the air-side heat transfer, and pressure drop of a micro-channel heat exchanger under wet surface conditions were studied experimentally. The test section was an aluminum micro-channel heat exchanger, consisting of a multi-louvered fin and multi-port mini-channels. Experiments were conducted to study the effects of inlet relative humidity, air frontal velocity, air inlet temperature, and refrigerant temperature on air-side performance. The experimental data were analyzed using the mean enthalpy difference method. The test run was performed at relative air humidities ranging between 45% and 80%; air inlet temperature ranges of 27, 30, and 33?C; refrigerant-saturated temperatures ranging from 18 to 22?C; and Reynolds numbers between 128 and 166. The results show that the inlet relative humidity, air inlet temperature, and the refrigerant temperature had significant effects on heat transfer performance and air-side pressure drop. The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop for the micro-channel heat exchanger under wet surface conditions are proposed in terms of the Colburn j factor and Fanning f factor.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirine Chtourou ◽  
Hassene Djemel ◽  
Mohamed Kaffel ◽  
Mounir Baccar

AbstractThis study presents a numerical analysis of a laminar counter flow inside small channels plate heat exchanger fitted with Y and C shape obstacles. Using the Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD, an advanced and modern simulation technique, the influence of the geometrical parameters (such as geometry, rib pitch) on the flow characteristics, the thermal and the hydrodynamics performance of the PHE (plate heat exchanger) is investigated numerically. The main goal of this work is to increase the flow turbulence, enhance the heat transfer and the thermal efficiency by inserting new obstacles forms. The computational domain is a conjugate model which is developed by the Computer Aided Design CAD software Solidworks. The results, obtained with Ansys Fluent, show that the presence of the shaped ribs provides enhancement in heat transfer and fluid turbulence. The CFD analysis is validated with the previous study. The non-dimensional factors such as the Nusselt number Nu, the skin friction factor Cf and the thermo-hydraulic performance parameter THPP are predicted with a Reynolds number Re range of 200–800. The temperature and the velocity distribution are presented and analyzed. The Y ribs and the C ribs offer as maximum THPP values respectively about 1.44 and 2.6 times of a smooth duct.


Author(s):  
Abdulkerim Okbaz ◽  
Ali Pınarbaşı ◽  
Ali Bahadır Olcay

In the present study, 3-D numerical simulations on heat and fluid flow characteristics of double-row multi-louvered fins heat exchanger are carried out. The heat transfer improvement and the corresponding pressure drop amounts were investigated depending on louver angles in the range of 20° ≤θ≤ 30°, louver pitches of Lp = 2,7mm, 3,5mm and 3,8mm and frontal velocities of Uin between 1.22 m/s and 3 m/s. The results are reported in terms of Colburn j-factor, Fanning friction factor f and area goodness factor j/f based on louver angle, louver pitch and Reynolds number. To understand local behavior of flow around louvered fins and heat exchanger tubes, flow visualization results of velocity vectors and stream-lines with temperature counters are presented. It is investigated that increasing louver angle enhances convective heat transfer while hydraulic performance decreases due to increased pressure drop. The flow noticeably behaves louver directed for all louver angles The flow can easily travel between different fins. This case study has been done to design and manufacture an industrial louver fin heat exchanger.


Author(s):  
Akram Ghanem ◽  
Thierry Lemenand ◽  
Dominique Della Valle ◽  
Hassan Peerhossaini

A numerical investigation of chaotic laminar flow and heat transfer in isothermal-wall square-channel configurations is presented. The computations, based on a finite-volume method with the SIMPLEC algorithm, are conducted in terms of Péclet numbers ranging from 7 to 7×105. The geometries, based on the split-and-recombine (SAR) principle, are first proposed for micromixing purposes, and are then optimized and scaled up to three-dimensional minichannels with 3-mm sides that are capable of handling industrial fluid manipulation processes. The aim is to assess the feasibility of this mass- and heat-transfer technique for out-of-laboratory commercial applications and to compare different configurations from a process intensification point of view. The effects of the geometry on heat transfer and flow characteristics are examined. Results show that the flux recombination phenomenon mimicking the baker’s transform in the SAR-1 and SAR-2 configurations produces chaotic structures and promotes mass transfer. This phenomenon also accounts for higher convective heat transfer exemplified by increased values of the Nusselt number compared to the chaotic continuous-flow configuration and the baseline plain square-duct geometry. Energy expenditures are explored and the overall heat transfer enhancement factor for equal pumping power is calculated. The SAR-2 configuration reveals superior heat-transfer characteristics, enhancing the global gain by up to 17-fold over the plain duct heat exchanger.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faraz Afshari ◽  
Azim Doğuş Tuncer ◽  
Adnan Sözen ◽  
Halil Ibrahim Variyenli ◽  
Ataollah Khanlari ◽  
...  

Purpose Using suspended nanoparticles in the base fluid is known as one of the most efficient ways for heat transfer augmentation and improving the thermal efficiency of various heat exchangers. Different types of nanofluids are available and used in different applications. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of using hybrid nanofluid and number of plates on the performance of plate heat exchanger. In this study, TiO2/water single nanofluid and TiO2-Al2O3/water hybrid nanofluid with 1% particle weight ratio have been used to prepare hybrid nanofluid to use in plate type heat exchangers with three various number of plates including 8, 12 and 16. Design/methodology/approach The experiments have been conducted with the aim of examining the impact of plates number and used nanofluids on heat transfer enhancement. The performance tests have been done at 40°C, 45°C, 50°C and 55°C set outlet temperatures and in five various Reynolds numbers between 1,600 and 3,800. Also, numerical simulation has been applied to verify the heat and flow behavior inside the heat exchangers. Findings The results indicated that using both nanofluids raised the thermal performance of all tested exchangers which have a various number of plates. While the major outcomes of this study showed that TiO2-Al2O3/water hybrid nanofluid has priority when compared to TiO2/water single type nanofluid. Utilization of TiO2-Al2O3/water nanofluid led to obtaining an average improvement of 7.5%, 9.6% and 12.3% in heat transfer of heat exchangers with 8, 12 and 16 plates, respectively. Originality/value In the present work, experimental and numerical analyzes have been conducted to investigate the influence of using TiO2-Al2O3/water hybrid nanofluid in various plate heat exchangers. The attained findings showed successful utilization of TiO2-Al2O3/water nanofluid. Based on the obtained results increasing the number of plates in the heat exchanger caused to obtain more increment by using both types of nanofluids.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1571-1595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Liu ◽  
Gongnan Xie ◽  
Bengt Ake Sunden ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Martin Andersson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to augment heat transfer rates of traditional rib-elements with minimal pressure drop penalties. Design/methodology/approach The novel geometries in the present research are conventional cylindrical ribs with rounded transitions to the adjacent flat surfaces and with modifications at their bases. All turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer results are presented using computation fluid dynamics with a validated v2f turbulence closure model. Turbulent flow characteristics and heat transfer performances in square channels with improved ribbed structures are numerically analyzed in this research work. Findings Based on the results, it is found that rounded transition cylindrical ribs have a large advantage over the conventional ribs in both enhancing heat transfer and reducing pressure loss penalty. In addition, cylindrical ribs increase the flow impingement at the upstream of the ribs, which will effectively increase the high heat transfer areas. The design of rounded transition cylindrical ribs and grooves will be an effective way to improve heat transfer enhancement and overall thermal performance of internal channels within blade cooling. Originality/value The novel geometries in this research are conventional cylindrical ribs with rounded transitions to the adjacent flat surfaces and with modifications at their bases. The combination of cylindrical ribs and grooves to manipulate the turbulent flow.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 2077-2097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenxiao Chen ◽  
Derek Ingham ◽  
Mohammed Ismail ◽  
Lin Ma ◽  
Kevin J. Hughes ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of hydrogen humidity on the performance of air-breathing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Design/methodology/approach An efficient mathematical model for air-breathing PEM fuel cells has been built in MATLAB. The sensitivity of the fuel cell performance to the heat transfer coefficient is investigated first. The effect of hydrogen humidity is also studied. In addition, under different hydrogen humidities, the most appropriate thickness of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) is investigated. Findings The heat transfer coefficient dictates the performance limiting mode of the air-breathing PEM fuel cell, the modelled air-breathing fuel cell is limited by the dry-out of the membrane at high current densities. The performance of the fuel cell is mainly influenced by the hydrogen humidity. Besides, an optimal cathode GDL and relatively thinner anode GDL are favoured to achieve a good performance of the fuel cell. Practical implications The current study improves the understanding of the effect of the hydrogen humidity in air-breathing fuel cells and this new model can be used to investigate different component properties in real designs. Originality/value The hydrogen relative humidity and the GDL thickness can be controlled to improve the performance of air-breathing fuel cells.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 2885-2910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan Qiu ◽  
Lei Luo ◽  
Songtao Wang ◽  
Bengt Ake Sunden ◽  
Xinhong Zhang

Purpose This study aims to focus on the surface curvature, jet to target spacing and jet Reynolds number effects on the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of a slot jet impinging on a confined concave target surface at constant jet to target spacing. Design/methodology/approach Numerical simulations are used in this research. Jet to target spacing, H/B is varying from 1.0 to 2.2, B is the slot width. The jet Reynolds number, Rej, varies from 8,000 to 40,000, and the surface curvature, R2/B, varies from 4 to 20. Results of the target surface heat transfer, flow parameters and fluid flow in the concave channel are performed. Findings It is found that an obvious backflow occurs near the upper wall. Both the local and averaged Nusselt numbers considered in the defined region respond positively to the Rej. The surface curvature plays a positive role in increasing the averaged Nusselt number for smaller surface curvature (4-15) but affects little as the surface curvature is large enough (> 15). The thermal performance is larger for smaller surface curvature and changes little as the surface curvature is larger than 15. The jet to target spacing shows a negative effect in heat transfer enhancement and thermal performance. Originality/value The surface curvature effects are conducted by verifying the concave surface with constant jet size. The flow characteristics are first obtained for the confined impingement cases. Then confined and unconfined slot jet impingements are compared. An ineffective point for surface curvature effects on heat transfer and thermal performance is obtained.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document