Experimental and numerical investigation on air-side performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers with various fin patterns

Air-side heat transfer and friction characteristics of five kinds of fin-and-tube heat exchangers, with the number of tube rows (N = 12) and the diameter of tubes (D_o = 18 mm), have been experimentally investigated. The test samples consist of five types of fin configurations: crimped spiral fin, plain fin, slit fin, fin with delta-wing longitudinal vortex generators (VGs) and mixed fin with front 6-row vortex-generator fin and rear 6-row slit fin. The heat transfer and friction factor correlations for different types of heat exchangers were obtained with the Reynolds numbers ranging from 4000 to 10000. It was found that crimped spiral fin provides higher heat transfer and pressure drop than the other four fins. The air-side performance of heat exchangers with the above five fins has been evaluated under three sets of criteria and it was shown that the heat exchanger with mixed fin (front vortex-generator fin and rear slit fin) has better performance than that with fin with delta-wing vortex generators, and the slit fin offers best heat transfer performance at high Reynolds numbers. Based on the correlations of numerical data, Genetic Algorithm optimization was carried out, and the optimization results indicated that the increase of VG attack angle or length, or decrease of VG height may enhance the performance of vortex-generator fin. The heat transfer performances for optimized vortex-generator fin and slit fin at hand have been compared with numerical method.     

Data reduction for air-side performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers

The present study focuses on the data reduction method to obtain the air-side performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers. The data reduction methodology for air-side heat transfer coefficients in the literature is not based on a consistent approach. This paper recommends standard procedures for dry surface heat transfer in finned-tube heat exchangers having water on the tube-side. Inconsistencies addressed include the -NTU relationships, calculation of the tube-side heat transfer coefficient, calculation of fin efficiency, and whether entrance and exit loss should be included in the reduction of friction factors. Use of the recommended standardized methodology will provide more meaningful data for use in the development of correlations, or for performance comparison purposes.     

An experimental investigation on performance of fins on a horizontal base in free convection heat transfer

 Natural convection heat transfer in rectangular fin-arrays mounted on a vertical base was investigated experimentally. An experimental set-up was constructed and calibrated to test 15 different fin configurations. Fin length and fin thickness were kept fixed at 100 and 3 mm respectively, while fin spacing was varied from 4.5 to 58.75 mm and fin height was varied from 5 to 25 mm. Base-to-ambient temperature difference was also varied through a calibrated wattmeter ranging from 10 to 50 W. The results showed that fin spacing is the most significant parameter in the performance of fin arrays; and for every fin height, for a given base-to-ambient temperature difference, there exists an optimum value for the fin spacing for which the heat transfer rate from the fin array is maximized. It was seen that higher heat transfer enhancement are obtained with vertically oriented bases than with horizontally oriented bases for fin arrays of the same geometry. Received on 16 February 2000     

Effect of fin pattern on the air-side performance of herringbone wavy fin-and-tube heat exchangers

In the present study, new experimental data on the air-side performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers having herringbone wavy fin configuration are presented. Different from most previous studies, the present experiments have been performed to determine the effects of fin patterns and edge corrugations on the air-side performance of the heat exchangers. The experimental apparatus consists essentially of a well-insulated open wind tunnel and herringbone wavy fin-and-tube heat exchangers made from aluminium wavy finned, copper tube. Two types of wavy fin patterns commonly in industrial use are investigated. Air and hot water are used as working fluids in air-side and tube-side, respectively. From the experimental results, it is found that the fin pattern has a significant effect on the heat transfer and flow characteristics. The corrugation at the fin edge enables the Colburn factor to decrease but it has almost no effect on the friction factor.     

Effect of fin thickness on air-side performance of herringbone wavy fin-and-tube heat exchangers

In the present study, the effects of fin thickness on the heat transfer and friction characteristics of fin-and-tube heat exchangers having herringbone wavy fin configuration are experimentally investigated. The experimental apparatus consists essentially of a well insulated open wind tunnel and herringbone wavy fin-and-tube heat exchangers made from aluminium plate finned, copper tube. Air and water are used to be working fluids in air-side and tube-side, respectively. A total of 10 samples of the fin-and-tube heat exchangers are tested. The experimental procedures are conducted by keeping the inlet water temperature at a pre-selected value, adjusting the water volumetric flow rate at a specific value and varying the air velocity. The results are presented as plots of the Colburn factor and friction factor against the Reynolds number based on the fin collar outside diameter (Re_Dc). From the results, it is found that for number of tube rows (N) = 2, the Colburn factor increases with increasing fin thickness. For N 4, the Colburn factor decreases with increasing fin thickness when Re_Dc < 1800, and increases with increasing fin thickness when Re_Dc > 2500. The friction factor increases with increasing fin thickness when fin pitch (F_p) 1.81 mm.     

An experimental investigation on performance of rectangular fins on a horizontal base in free convection heat transfer

This paper reports an experimental study of free convection heat transfer from rectangular fin-arrays on a horizontal base. An experimental set-up was constructed and calibrated, 15 sets of fin-arrays and a base plate without fins were tested in atmosphere. Fin height was varied from 6 mm to 26 mm, fin spacing was varied from 6.2 mm to 83 mm. The base-to-ambient temperature difference was also varied independently and systematically with the power supply to heater ranging from 8 W to 50 W. Fin length and fin thicknesses were fixed at 100 mm and 3 mm, respectively. The experimental program was conducted so as to clearly delineate the separate roles of fin height, fin spacing and base-to-ambient temperature difference. It was found that for a given base-to-ambient temperature difference the convection heat transfer rate from fin-arrays takes on a maximum value as a function of fin spacing and fin height. For a given base-to-ambient temperature difference the enhancement of the convection heat transfer rate of fin-arrays relative to that for base plate without fins is strongly dependent on the fin spacing to fin height ratio and number of fins. A correlation was also presented relating the convection heat transfer rate of fin-arrays relative to that for base plate without fins with the relevant non-dimensional parameters. Received on 7 August 1997     

Experimental study of the airside performance of tube row spacing in finned tube heat exchangers

Almost all of the studies in dehumidifying coils are experimental studies. In this study, effect of tube regulation space on heat and mass transfer and friction factor for heat exchangers made from aluminum fins and cooper tubes are identified experimentally. External surface heat transfer coefficient, Colburn factor and friction factor was calculated by the help of the computer program by using experimental values done. After the diagrams investigated, with the decreasing of tube row spacing the external surface heat transfer in the dry surface and friction factor increased. If wet and dry surfaces are compared, Colburn and friction factor in wet surfaces is larger than Colburn and friction factor in dry surfaces.     

An engineering procedure for air side performance evaluation of flat tube heat exchangers with louvered fins

An accurate evaluation of possible air side heat transfer surface geometries is a prerequisite for optimal heat exchanger design. Aiming for practical engineering applicability a simplified and transparent analytical procedure for the assessment of louvered fin and flat tube heat exchanger geometries and the calculation of fin parameters that enable maximal performance for given boundary conditions has been developed. The proposed method comprises determining fins temperature profiles and effective heat transfer temperature difference, introduction of a relative heat transfer surface area, as well as the utilization of recent experimentally obtained heat transfer correlations confirmed for the observed range of boundary conditions. The proposed methodology is validated through comparison with experimental and numerical results of other authors.     

Thermal behavior of spiral fin-and-tube heat exchanger having fly ash deposit

This research investigates the effect of fly-ash deposit on thermal performance of a cross-flow heat exchanger having a set of spiral finned-tubes as a heat transfer surface. A stream of warm air having high content of fly-ash is exchanging heat with a cool water stream in the tubes. In this study, the temperature of the heat exchanger surface is lower than the dew point temperature of air, thus there is condensation of moisture in the air stream on the heat exchanger surface. The affecting parameters such as the fin spacing, the air mass flow rate, the fly-ash mass flow rate and the inlet temperature of warm air are varied while the volume flow rate and the inlet temperature of the cold water stream are kept constant at 10 l/min and 5 °C, respectively.

From the experiment, it is found that as the testing period is shorter than 8 h the thermal resistance due to the fouling increases with time. Moreover, the deposit of fly-ash on the heat transfer surface is directly proportional to the dust–air ratio and the amount of condensate on heat exchange surface. However, the deposit of fly-ash is inversely proportional to the fin spacing. The empirical model for evaluating the thermal resistance is also developed in this work and the simulated results agree well with those of the measured data.     

Experimental study on frost release on fin-and-tube heat exchangers by use of a novel anti-frosting paint

Frost formation on heat exchangers is an undesirable phenomenon that almost inevitably exists in refrigeration and cryogenic equipment; it can significantly affect the thermal efficiency of heat exchangers and reduce the performance of the refrigeration system. In this paper, a newly developed anti-frosting paint was used to spray on the heat exchanger fins with coating thickness of 30 μm, and a series of comparative experiments were conducted to test its effectiveness in restraining frost deposition under different repeated frosting–defrosting cycles. The experimental results demonstrated that the anti-frosting time of the coated heat exchanger was substantially longer when compared with the uncoated heat exchanger. In addition, there was no appreciable frost deposition on the coated fins surface during the whole test.     

An experimental study on the thermal performance of ground heat exchanger

A knowledge of ground thermal properties is most important for the proper design of large GHE (ground heat exchanger) systems. Thermal response tests have so far been used primarily not only for in situ determination of design data for GHE systems, but also for the evaluation of grout material, heat exchanger types and groundwater effects. The main purpose has been to determine in situ values of effective ground thermal conductivity, including the effect of groundwater flow and natural convection in boreholes.     

Three-dimensional numerical investigation of heat transfer for plate fin heat exchangers

In the present study, the potential of rectangular fins with 30° and 90° angle and 10 mm offset from the horizontal direction for heat transfer enhancement in a plate fin heat exchanger is numerically evaluated with conjugated heat transfer approach. The rectangular fins are mounted on the flat plate channel. The numerical computations are performed by solving a steady, three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation and an energy equation by using Fluent software program. Air is taken as working fluid. The study is carried out at Re = 400 and inlet temperatures, velocities of cold and hot air are fixed as 300, 600 K and 1.338, 0.69 m/s, respectively. Colburn factor j versus Re design data is presented by using Fluent. The results show that the heat transfer is increased by 10 % at the exit of channel with fin angle of 30° when compared to channel without fin for counter flow. The heat transfer enhancement with fins of 30° and 90° for different values of Reynolds number with 300, 500 and 800 and for varying fin heights, fin intervals and also temperature distributions of fluids on the top and bottom surface of the channel are investigated for parallel and counter flow.     

Performance and optimum dimensions of flat fins for tube-and-fin heat exchangers: A generalized analysis

The performance of flat fins for tube-fin heat exchangers has been analyzed for both inline and staggered arrangement of tubes. In earlier published studies, regular square and equilateral triangular array tube layouts were considered. No such restriction is put in the present study. The analysis has been done by a semi-analytical technique where the boundary condition at the fin edge is discretely satisfied at a large number of points by a method of collocation. It has also been demonstrated that the approximate results obtained by the sector method closely agree with the prediction of semi-analytical technique. Finally, a generalized scheme of optimization based on Lagrange multiplier technique has been suggested which shows that irrespective of the volume and thickness of the fins, square and equilateral triangular array of tubes are the optimum layout for inline and staggered arrangements, respectively. This result was known so far only intuitively. The optimum dimensions for flat fins for other layout of tubes have also been obtained specifying the ratio of longitudinal to transverse tube pitch.     

An experimental method for evaluating the heat transfer coefficient of liquid-cooled short pin fins using infrared thermography

The aim of this research is to evaluate the convective heat transfer coefficient of liquid cooled short pin fins by means of the infrared thermography. An experimental apparatus was set-up to analyze single, in-line and staggered array configurations of short pin fins. In this work the attention is focused on single pins having different shapes: circular, square, triangular and rhomboidal. The infrared thermography is used to indirectly measure the lateral pin temperature by observing the upper surface temperature of radially heated pins; these are placed in a test section chamber equipped with a Zinc Selenide infrared window. Flow visualizations by means of ink tracers are also carried out to relate the thermal behavior with the flow field. Regressions by the Zukauskas correlation were performed for each shape and new coefficients were carried out; a comparison among the different pin geometries underlines a better thermal exchange for the triangular and rhomboidal pins.     

An experimental investigation into non-linear wave loading on horizontal axis tidal turbines

Tidal turbines are subject to large hydrodynamic loads from combinations of currents and waves, which contribute significantly to fatigue, extreme loading and power flow requirements. Physical model testing enables these loads and power fluctuations to be assessed and understood in a controlled and repeatable environment. In this work, a 1:15 scale tidal turbine model is utilised to further the fundamental understanding of the influence of waves on tidal turbines. A wide range of regular waves are generated in both following-current and opposing-current conditions. Wave frequencies range from 0.31 Hz to 0.55 Hz & wave heights from 0.025 m to 0.37 m in a fixed 0.81 m/s current velocity. Waves are selected and programmed specifically to facilitate frequency domain analysis, and techniques are employed to isolate the effect of non-linear waves on turbine power and thrust.Results demonstrate that wave action induces large variations in turbine power and thrust compared to current only conditions. For the range of conditions tested, peak values of thrust and power exceed current-only values by between 7%–65% and 13%–160% respectively. These wave-induced fluctuations are shown to increase with wave amplitude and decrease with wave frequency. Following wave conditions exhibit greater variations than opposing for waves with the same wave height and frequency due to the lower associated wavenumbers.A model is developed and presented to aid the understanding of the high-order harmonic response of the turbine to waves, which is further demonstrated using steady state coefficients under assumptions of pseudo-stationarity. This approach is proven to be effective at estimating wave-induced power and thrust fluctuations for the combinations of waves, currents and turbine state tested. The outcome of which shows promise as a rapid design tool that can evaluate the effect of site-specific wave–current conditions on turbine performance.     

A new model for predicting performance of fin-and-tube heat exchanger under frost condition

Accurate prediction of frost characteristics has crucial influence on designing effective heat exchangers. In this paper, a new CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) model has been proposed to predict the frost behaviour. The initial period of frost formation can be predicted and the influence of surface structure can be considered. The numerical simulations have been carried out to investigate the performance of fin-and-tube heat exchanger under frost condition. The results have been validated by comparison of simulations with the data computed by empirical formulas. The transient local frost formation has been obtained. The average frost thickness, heat exchanger coefficient and pressure drop on air side has been analysed as well. In addition, the influence factors have also been discussed, such as fin pitch, relative humidity, air flow rate and evaporating temperature of refrigerant.     

A risk based performance evaluation of plate-and-frame heat exchangers

Plate-and-frame heat exchangers (PHEs) operating in process industries are fouled to a greater or lesser extent depending on surface temperature, surface condition, material of construction, fluid velocity, flow geometry and fluid composition. This fouling phenomenon is time-dependent and will result in a decrease in the overall heat transfer coefficient and increase in the pressure drop of the PHE. Once the overall heat transfer coefficient decreases to a minimum acceptable level, cleaning of the equipment becomes necessary to restore the performance. In this paper, we present a simple probabilistic approach to characterize various fouling models that are commonly encountered in many industries. These random fouling growth models are then used to investigate the impact on risk based thermal effectiveness, overall heat transfer coefficient and the hot- and cold-fluid outlet temperatures of a PHE. All the results are presented in a generalized form in order to demonstrate the generality of the risk-based procedure discussed in this paper.     

An experimental investigation of shock wave propagation in periodically layered composites

In heterogeneous media, scattering due to interfaces/microstructure between dissimilar materials could play an important role in shock wave dissipation and dispersion. In this work, the influence of interface scattering on finite-amplitude shock waves was experimentally investigated by impacting flyer plates onto periodically layered polycarbonate/6061 aluminum, polycarbonate/304 stainless steel and polycarbonate/glass composites. Experimental results (obtained using velocity interferometer and stress gage) show that these periodically layered composites can support steady structured shock waves. Due to interface scattering, the effective shock viscosity increases with the increase of interface impedance mismatch, and decreases with the increase of interface density (interface area per unit volume) and loading amplitude. For the composites studied here, the strain rate within the shock front is roughly proportional to the square of the shock stress. This indicates that layered composites have much larger shock viscosity due to the interface/microstructure scattering in comparison with the increase of shock strain rate by the fourth power of the shock stress for homogeneous metals. Experimental results also show that due to the scattering effects, shock propagation in the layered composites is dramatically slowed down and the shock speed in composites can be lower than that either of its components.