Effect of Cylinder Aspect Ratio and Channel Dimensions on the Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Parallel-Plate Channel Heat Exchangers

Author(s):  
A. K. Saha ◽  
Sumanta Acharya

A comparative numerical study has been carried out to analyze the unsteady three-dimensional flow and heat transfer in a parallel-plate channel heat exchangers with in-line arrays of periodically mounted square cylinders (pins) at various Reynolds number and geometrical configurations. The geometry considered represents the narrow trailing edge region of the blade where pin fins are used to serve both a structural and a heat transfer role. The three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes and energy equations are solved using higher order temporal and spatial discretizations. The simulations have been carried out for a range of Reynolds number based on cylinder width (180–600) and a Prandtl number of 6.99 (corresponding to water). Conjugate heat transfer calculations have been employed to account for the conduction in the solid cylinder and convection in the fluid. The thermal performance factor (TPF) increases significantly when the flow becomes unsteady. The choice of aspect ratio of the cylinders is judged by their relative increase in friction factor and heat transfer at transitional Reynolds number. The TPF is found to increase with the increase in pitch of the cylinders. The increase in channel height enhances the TPF though the heat transfer decreases at higher channel height.

Author(s):  
Tarek M. Abdel-Salam

This study presents results for flow and heat transfer characteristics of two-dimensional rectangular impinging jets and three-dimensional circular impinging jets. Flow geometries under consideration are single and multiple impinging jets issued from a plane wall. Both confined and unconfined configurations are simulated. Effects of Reynolds number and the distance between the jets are investigated. Results are obtained with a finite volume computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Structured grids are used in all cases of the present study. Turbulence is treated with a two equation k-ε model. Different jet velocities have been examined corresponding to Reynolds numbers of 5,000 to 20,000. Results of the three-dimensional cases show that Reynolds number has no effect on the velocity distribution of the center jet. Results of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional cases show that Reynolds number highly affects the heat transfer and values of the Nusselt number. The maximum Nusselt number was always found at the stagnation point of the center jet.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Asako ◽  
Y. Yamaguchi ◽  
M. Faghri

Three-dimensional numerical analysis, for transitional characteristics of fluid flow and heat transfer in periodic fully developed region of an array of the heated square blocks deployed along one wall of the parallel plates duct, is carried out by using Lam-Bremhorst low-Reynolds-number two equation turbulence model. Computations were performed for Prandtl number of 0.7, in the Reynolds number range of 200 to 2000 and for two sets of geometric parameters characterizing the array. The predicted transitional Reynolds number is lower than the value for the parallel plate duct and it decreases with increasing the height above the module. Experiments were also performed for pressure drop measurements and for flow visualization and the results were compared with the numerical predictions.


2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.-L. Lin ◽  
T. I.-P. Shih ◽  
M. A. Stephens ◽  
M. K. Chyu

Computations were performed to study the three-dimensional flow and heat transfer in a U-shaped duct of square cross section under rotating and non-rotating conditions. The parameters investigated were two rotation numbers (0, 0.24) and smooth versus ribbed walls at a Reynolds number of 25,000, a density ratio of 0.13, and an inlet Mach number of 0.05. Results are presented for streamlines, velocity vector fields, and contours of Mach number, pressure, temperature, and Nusselt numbers. These results show how fluid flow in a U-duct evolves from a unidirectional one to one with convoluted secondary flows because of Coriolis force, centrifugal buoyancy, staggered inclined ribs, and a 180 deg bend. These results also show how the nature of the fluid flow affects surface heat transfer. The computations are based on the ensemble-averaged conservation equations of mass, momentum (compressible Navier-Stokes), and energy closed by the low Reynolds number SST turbulence model. Solutions were generated by a cell-centered finite-volume method that uses second-order flux-difference splitting and a diagonalized alternating-direction implicit scheme with local time stepping and V-cycle multigrid.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (9) ◽  
pp. 1141-1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aya Kitoh ◽  
Kazuaki Sugawara ◽  
Hiroyuki Yoshikawa ◽  
Terukazu Ota

Direct numerical simulation methodology clarified the three-dimensional separated flow and heat transfer around three backward-facing steps in a rectangular channel, especially effects of channel expansion ratio ER upon them. ER treated in the present study was 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0 under a step aspect ratio of 36.0. The Reynolds number Re based on the mean velocity at inlet and the step height was varied from 300 to 1000. The present numerical results for ER=2.0 were found to be in very good agreement with the previous experimental and numerical ones in the present Reynolds number range for both the steady and unsteady flow states. The time averaged reattachment length on the center line increases with a decrease of ER. The flow became unsteady at RE=700, 600, and 500 for ER=1.5, 2.0, and 3.0, respectively, accompanying the remarkable increase of the three-dimensionality of the flow and temperature fields in spite of a very large step aspect ratio of 36.0. The Nusselt number increases in the reattachment flow region, in the neighborhood of the sidewalls, and also in the far downstream depending on both Re and ER.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Saha ◽  
Sumanta Acharya

Abstract A three-dimensional numerical study has been carried out to analyze the unsteady flow and heat transfer in a micro-channel with an array of periodically mounted square cylinders. The current geometry represents a micro-heat exchanger and has potential applications in the cooling of turbine blades and electronic cooling. The cylinder dimensions are of the order of few microns. The three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes and energy equations are solved using higher order temporal and spatial discretizations. The simulations have been carried out for a range of Reynolds number based on cylinder width (180–600) and a Prandtl number of 6.99. Conjugate heat transfer calculations have been employed to account for the conduction in the solid cylinder and convection in the fluid. The flow is found to become unsteady at a critical Reynolds number that falls between 250 and 400. The flow shows quasi-periodic behavior with multiple frequencies at a Reynolds number of 400. The heat transfer enhancement compared to a plane channel is marginal (1.1–1.4 times) for the steady flow cases whereas it is significant (12–15 times) when the flow is unsteady. The friction factor was found to decrease with Reynolds number in both the steady and unsteady regimes. However, the friction factor increases at the critical Reynolds number where it becomes unsteady in nature.


Author(s):  
H. X. Liang ◽  
Q. W. Wang ◽  
L. Q. Luo ◽  
Z. P. Feng

Three-dimensional numerical simulation was conducted to investigate the flow field and heat transfer performance of the Cross-Wavy Primary Surface (CWPS) recuperators for microturbines. Using high-effective compact recuperators to achieve high thermal efficiency is one of the key techniques in the development of microturbine in recent years. Recuperators need to have minimum volume and weight, high reliability and durability. Most important of all, they need to have high thermal-effectiveness and low pressure-losses so that the gas turbine system can achieve high thermal performances. These requirements have attracted some research efforts in designing and implementing low-cost and compact recuperators for gas turbine engines recently. One of the promising techniques to achieve this goal is the so-called primary surface channels with small hydraulic dimensions. In this paper, we conducted a three-dimensional numerical study of flow and heat transfer for the Cross-Wavy Primary Surface (CWPS) channels with two different geometries. In the CWPS configurations the secondary flow is created by means of curved and interrupted surfaces, which may disturb the thermal boundary layers and thus improve the thermal performances of the channels. To facilitate comparison, we chose the identical hydraulic diameters for the above four CWPS channels. Since our experiments on real recuperators showed that the Reynolds number ranges from 150 to 500 under the operating conditions, we implemented all the simulations under laminar flow situations. By analyzing the correlations of Nusselt numbers and friction factors vs. Reynolds numbers of the four CWPS channels, we found that the CWPS channels have superior and comprehensive thermal performance with high compactness, i.e., high heat transfer area to volume ratio, indicating excellent commercialized application in the compact recuperators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2 Part A) ◽  
pp. 767-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Djamel Sahel ◽  
Houari Ameur ◽  
Touhami Baki

The baffling technique is well-known for its efficiency in terms of enhancement of heat transfer rates throught channels. However, the baffles insert is accompanied by an increase in the friction factor. This issue remains a great challenge for the designers of heat exchangers. To overcome this issue, we suggest in the present paper a new design of baffles which is here called graded baffle-design. The baffles have an up- or down-graded height along the channel length. This geometry is characterized by two ratios: up-graded baffle ratio and down-graded baffle ratio which are varied from 0-0.08. For a range of Reynolds number varying from 104 to 2 ? 104, the turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics of a heat exchanger channel are numerically studied by the computer code FLUENT. The obtained results revealed an enhancement in the thermohydraulic performance offered by the new suggested design. For the channel with a down-graded baffle ratio equal to 0.08, the friction factors decreased by 4-8%


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