Hydrodynamic and Thermal Performance of Microchannels With Different In-Line Arrangements of Cylindrical Micropin Fins

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammadi ◽  
Ali Koşar

This study presents results on the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of single-phase water flows inside microchannels (MCs) with different micropin fin (MPF) configurations. Different inline arrangements of micropin fins were considered over Reynolds numbers ranging from 20 to 160. The computational studies were performed using the commercial software ansys 14.5. The hydrodynamic performances of the configurations were compared using two parameters, namely, pressure drop and friction factor while the comparison in their thermal and thermal-hydraulic performances were based on Nusselt number and thermal performance index (TPI). Wake-pin fin interactions were carefully analyzed through streamline patterns in different arrangements and under different flow conditions. The results showed strong dependencies of all four evaluated performance parameters on the vertical pitch ratio (ST/D). Weaker dependencies on height over diameter ratio (H/D), horizontal pitch ratio (SL/D), and minimum available area (Amin) were observed. With an increase in the Reynolds number, extension of the wake regions behind MPFs was observed to be the paramount factor in increasing pressure drop and Nusselt number. Regarding TPI, two adverse trends were observed corresponding to different ST/D ratios, while the effect of SL/D ratio was unique. For friction factors, H/D and SL/D ratios of 1 and 1.5, respectively, led to minimum values, while different ST/D ratios are needed for each diameter size for the maximum performance. Moreover, a twofold increase in Reynolds number resulted in about 40% decrease in friction factor in each configuration.

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 2702
Author(s):  
Miao Qian ◽  
Jie Li ◽  
Zhong Xiang ◽  
Chao Yan ◽  
Xudong Hu

To improve the efficiency of hydrogen-producing microreactors with non-uniform pin-fin array, the influence of the pin diameter degressive gradient of the non-uniform pin-fin array (NPFA) on heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics is analyzed in this study via numerical simulation under low Reynolds number conditions. Because correlations in prior studies cannot be used to predict the Nusselt number and pressure drop in the NPFA, new heat transfer and friction factor correlations are developed in this paper to account for the effect of the pin diameter degressive gradient, providing a method for the optimized design of the pin diameter degressive gradient for a microreactor with NPFA. The results show that the Nusselt number and friction factor under a low Reynolds number are quite sensitive to the pin diameter degressive gradient. Based on the new correlations, the exponents of the pin diameter degressive gradient for the friction factor and Nusselt number were 6.9 and 2.1, respectively, indicating the significant influence of the pin diameter degressive gradient on the thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics in the NPFA structure.


1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Olson

We have measured heat transfer and pressure drop of three thin, compact heat exchangers in helium gas at 3.5 MPa and higher, with Reynolds numbers of 450 to 36,000. The flow geometries for the three heat exchanger specimens were: circular tube, rectangular channel, and staggered pin fin with tapered pins. The specimens were heated radiatively at heat fluxes up to 77 W/cm2. Correlations were developed for the isothermal friction factor as a function of Reynolds number, and for the Nusselt number as a function of Reynolds number and the ratio of wall temperature to fluid temperature. The specimen with the pin fin internal geometry had significantly better heat transfer than the other specimens, but it also had higher pressure drop. For certain conditions of helium flow and heating, the temperature more than doubled from the inlet to the outlet of the specimens, producing large changes in gas velocity, density, viscosity, and thermal conductivity. These changes in properties did not affect the correlations for friction factor and Nusselt number in turbulent flow.


Author(s):  
Melanie Beauchemin ◽  
Jinny Rhee

Heat sinks with cross airflow are commonly used for enhancing the cooling of electronic components. When using heat sinks in avionics applications, the primary heat transfer challenges are due to low air densities, which occur when operating at high altitudes, and space and mass constraints. Because of the spatial constraints, heat sinks with a large surface area per unit volume are advantageous. In general, cylindrical pin-fin heat sinks offer such characteristics. The Nusselt number is used as an indication of the thermal performance of the heat sink for a given Reynolds number. At high altitude, we expect the Reynolds number (based on the fin diameter and maximum velocity, Red,max) to be smaller than 1000. Empirical correlations for the Nusselt number of cylindrical pin-fin heat sinks are available in the literature; however, these correlations were obtained for larger values of Red,max. The objective of this work is to correlate the Nusselt number and the friction factor of an in-line cylindrical pin-fin heat sink with its non-dimensional geometric parameters, and the airflow Reynolds number. The emphasis is on Red,max range between 25 and 1000, which allows the evaluation of the thermal performance of the heat sink for altitudes up to 70,000 feet. The results are obtained using three-dimensional numerical simulations with the commercial CFD software Flotherm. The numerical model is validated against experimental data. The results show that for a given Red,max, the average Nusselt number and friction factor are independent of the altitude for a given heat sink configuration. However, for a given air inlet velocity, an important drop in the average Nusselt number is observed as the altitude increases due to the reduction in air density. The effect of the variation of the fin span-wise and stream-wise pitches, as well as height is also studied.


2012 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Neil Jordan ◽  
Lesley M. Wright

An alternative to ribs for internal heat transfer enhancement of gas turbine airfoils is dimpled depressions. Relative to ribs, dimples incur a reduced pressure drop, which can increase the overall thermal performance of the channel. This experimental investigation measures detailed Nusselt number ratio distributions obtained from an array of V-shaped dimples (δ/D = 0.30). Although the V-shaped dimple array is derived from a traditional hemispherical dimple array, the V-shaped dimples are arranged in an in-line pattern. The resulting spacing of the V-shaped dimples is 3.2D in both the streamwise and spanwise directions. A single wide wall of a rectangular channel (AR = 3:1) is lined with V-shaped dimples. The channel Reynolds number ranges from 10,000–40,000. Detailed Nusselt number ratios are obtained using both a transient liquid crystal technique and a newly developed transient temperature sensitive paint (TSP) technique. Therefore, the TSP technique is not only validated against a baseline geometry (smooth channel), but it is also validated against a more established technique. Measurements indicate that the proposed V-shaped dimple design is a promising alternative to traditional ribs or hemispherical dimples. At lower Reynolds numbers, the V-shaped dimples display heat transfer and friction behavior similar to traditional dimples. However, as the Reynolds number increases to 30,000 and 40,000, secondary flows developed in the V-shaped concavities further enhance the heat transfer from the dimpled surface (similar to angled and V-shaped rib induced secondary flows). This additional enhancement is obtained with only a marginal increase in the pressure drop. Therefore, as the Reynolds number within the channel increases, the thermal performance also increases. While this trend has been confirmed with both the transient TSP and liquid crystal techniques, TSP is shown to have limited capabilities when acquiring highly resolved detailed heat transfer coefficient distributions.


Author(s):  
Pornchai Nivesrangsan ◽  
Somsak Pethkool ◽  
Kwanchai Nanan ◽  
Monsak Pimsarn ◽  
Smith Eiamsa-ard

This paper presents the heat transfer augmentation and friction factor characteristics by means of dimpled tubes. The experiments were conducted using the dimpled tubes with two different dimpled-surface patterns including aligned arrangement (A-A) and staggered arrangement (S-A), each with two pitch ratios (PR = p/Di = 0.6 and 1.0), for Reynolds number ranging from 9800 to 67,000. The experimental results achieved from the dimpled tubes are compared with those obtained from the plain tube. Evidently, the dimpled tubes with both arrangements offer higher heat transfer rates compared to the plain tube and the dimpled tube with staggered arrangement shows an advantage on the basis of heat transfer enhancement over the dimpled tube with aligned arrangement. The increase in heat transfer rate with reducing pitch ratio is due to the higher turbulent intensity imparted to the flow between the dimple surfaces. The mean heat transfer rate offered by the dimpled tube with staggered arrangement (S-A) at the lowest pitch ratio (PR = 0.6), is higher than those provided by the plain tube and the dimpled tube with aligned arrangement (A-A) at the same PR by around 127% and 8%, respectively. The empirical correlations developed in terms of pitch ratio (PR), Prandtl number (Pr) and Reynolds number, are fitted the experimental data within ±8% and ±2% for Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor (f), respectively. In addition, the thermal performance factors under an equal pumping power constraint of the dimple tubes for both dimpled-surface arrangements are also determined.


Author(s):  
Jin Xu ◽  
Jiaxu Yao ◽  
Pengfei Su ◽  
Jiang Lei ◽  
Junmei Wu ◽  
...  

Convective heat transfer enhancement and pressure loss characteristics in a wide rectangular channel (AR = 4) with staggered pin fin arrays are investigated experimentally. Six sets of pin fins with the same nominal diameter (Dn = 8mm) are tested, including: Circular, Elliptic, Oblong, Dropform, NACA and Lancet. The relative spanwise pitch (S/Dn = 2) and streamwise pitch (X/Dn = 4.5) are kept the same for all six sets. Same nominal diameter and arrangement guarantee the same blockage area in the channel for each set. Reynolds number based on channel hydraulic diameter is from 10000 to 70000 with an increment of 10000. Using thermochromic liquid crystal (R40C20W), heat transfer coefficients on bottom surface of the channel are achieved. The obtained friction factor, Nusselt number and overall thermal performance are compared with the previously published data from other groups. The averaged Nusselt number of Circular pin fins is the largest in these six pin fins under different Re. Though Elliptic has a moderate level of Nusselt number, its pressure loss is next to the lowest. Elliptic pin fins have pretty good overall thermal performance in the tested Reynolds number range. When Re>40000, Lancet has a same level of performance as Circular, but its pressure loss is much lower than Circular. These two types are both promising alternative configuration to Circular pin fin used in gas turbine blade.


Author(s):  
Sogol Pirbastami ◽  
Samir Moujaes

A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study of heat enhancement in helically grooved tubes was carried out by using a 3-dimensional simulation with the STARCCM+ simulation package software. The k-ε model selected for turbulent flow simulation and the governing equations were solved by using the finite volume method. Geometric models of the current study include 3 rectangular grooved tubes with different groove width (w) and depth (e) which varies from 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm for the same tube length of 2.0m and diameter of 7.1 mm. The simulations were performed in the Reynolds number (Re) range of 4000–10000 with a uniform wall heat flux of 3150 w/m2 applied as a boundary condition on the surface of each tube. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of different groove dimensions on the thermal performance and pressure drop of water inside the grooved tubes and clarify the structural nature of the flow in regards to flow swirl and turbulent kinetic energy distributions. It was found that the highest performance belongs to the groove with these dimensions (w = 0.2 mm and e = 0.2 mm) which was considered for further study. Then, for these same groove dimensions four pitch size to tube diameter (p/D) ratios ranging from 1 to 18 were simulated for the same 2.0 m length tube. The results for Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor (f) showed that by increasing the (p/D) ratio both the Nu numbers and the friction factors (f) values decrease. With a smaller pitch length (p) the turbulence intensity generated by the internal groove was also found to increase. The physical behavior of the turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics were observed by contour plots which showed an increasing swirl flow and turbulent kinetic energy as p/D decreases. With an increase of the Nu number for smaller p/D ratio, a penalty of a higher pressure drop was obtained. The results were validated with a previous experimental work and the average error between the experimental and CFD Nu numbers and f were 13% and 8% respectively. A higher level of turbulent kinetic energy is observed near the grooves, as compared to the smooth areas of the pipe surface away from the grooves, which are expected to lead to higher levels of heat transfer. The effect of pitch length (p) on the flow pattern were plotted by streamlines along the tubes, by decreasing the pitch size (p/D ratio) an increase in the swirl is noticed as evidenced by the plots of the path lines. Finally, empirical correlations for Nusselt number and friction factor were provided as a function of p/D and Re number. This study indicates that the incorporation of the internal groove, of particular dimensions, can lead to an improvement of performance in heat exchanger devices. A limited variation of the groove dimensions was conducted and it was found that the values of Nu and f do not improve with an increase of (w) nor with that of (e) from 0.2–0.6 mm.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammadi ◽  
Ali Koşar

This study focuses on microheat sinks with different staggered arrangements of micro pin fins (MPFs). A rectangular microchannel with the dimensions of 5000 × 1500 × 100 μm3 (l′ × w′ × h′) was considered for all the configurations while different MPF diameters, height over diameter ratio (H/D), and longitudinal and transversal pitch ratios (SL/D and ST/D) were considered in different arrangements. Using the ansys fluent 14.5 commercial software, the simulations were done for different Reynolds numbers between 20 and 160. A constant heat flux of 30 W/cm2 was applied through the bottom heating section. The performances of the microheat sinks were evaluated using design parameters, namely pressure drop, friction factor, Nusselt number, and thermal-hydraulic performance index (TPI). The effect of each geometrical parameter as well as wake-pin fin interaction patterns were carefully studied using the streamline patterns and temperature profiles of each configuration. The results reveal a great dependency of trends in pressure drops and Nusselt numbers on the wake region lengths as well as the local velocity and pressure gradients. Moreover, the wake region lengths mostly contribute to the increase in obtained pressure drop and Nusselt number with Reynolds number. Although an increase in the H/D and SL/D ratios results in an increase and a decrease in pressure drop, respectively, the effect on the Nusselt number depends on other geometrical parameters and Reynolds number. A larger ST/D ratio generally results in a decrease in the pressure drop and Nusselt number. Finally, while the friction factor decreases with Reynolds number, two different trends are seen for the TPI values of configurations with the H/D ratio of 1 and 2 (D = 100 and 50 μm). While the trend in the TPIs is increasing for Reynolds numbers between 20 and 40, it reverses for higher Reynolds numbers with a steeper slope in the configurations with the ST/D ratio of 1.5.


2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shantanu Purohit ◽  
N. Madhwesh ◽  
K. Vasudeva Karanth ◽  
N. Yagnesh Sharma

This study presents an innovative idea to augment heat transfer to an air heater using helicoidal finned arrangement. A parametric analysis of the helicoidal shaped fin geometry is considered with helicoidal pitch ratio of 0.1666–0.3, fin diameter ratio of 1.75–2. For the placement of the fin beneath the absorber plate, longitudinal pitch ratio ranging from 0.0416 to 0.1666 are used. The flow Reynolds number used for the study ranges from 4800 to 25,000. The effects of helicoidal pitch ratio, wire diameter ratio and longitudinal pitch ratio on Nusselt number and friction factor have been discussed. It is seen from the analysis that there is a significant improvement in Nusselt number for the case of helicoidal fin of wire diameter ratio of 1 when compared to base model as well as straight fin model for the operating range of Reynolds number. It is also observed from the analysis that for the helicoidal fin configuration of helicoidal pitch ratio of 0.2333, friction factor appears to be moderate. Flow and roughness parameters for roughened solar air heater have been optimized using thermal-hydraulic enhancement factor (THEF). The study reveals that by the use of helicoidal fins, maximum enhancement in the Nusselt number is found to be 2.21 times when compared to the base model for longitudinal pitch ratio of 0.0416, helicoidal pitch ratio of 0.166 for a fixed wire diameter. The improvement obtained in performance corresponding to increased Nusselt number establishes the efficacy the helicoidal fin design for the absorber plate.


Author(s):  
Mei Wang ◽  
Yan Wen ◽  
Suizheng Qiu ◽  
Guanghui Su ◽  
Weifeng Ni

The purpose of this study is to discover the differences of pressure drop and heat transfer of single-phase water flow between conventional channels and narrow rectangular channels. Furthermore, the differences between the level and the vertical channel have been studied. The gap of the test channel is 1.8mm. Compared with conventional channels, the narrow rectangular channel showed differences in both flow and heat transfer characteristics. The critical Reynolds number of transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow is 900∼1300, which is smaller compared with conventional channels. The friction factor is larger than that of the conventional channels and the correlation of friction factor with Reynolds number was given by experimental results. From the relation graph of Nusselt number and Reynolds number, the demarcation of the laminar flow region and turbulence flow region is obvious. In laminar region, Nusselt number almost remained constant and approximately consistent with numerical simulation results. While in turbulent region, Nusselt number increased significantly with increasing Reynolds number. A new Nusselt number correlation was obtained based on Dittus-Boelter equation, and the coefficients were less about 13% than that of Dittus-Boelter equation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document