A computational method for geometric optimization of enhanced heat transfer devices based upon entropy generation minimization

A computational fluid dynamics‐based optimization methodology is developed, appropriate for the geometric optimization of enhanced heat transfer devices based upon the principle of entropy generation minimization, in which the objective function is evaluated from a flow field obtained by computational simulation. A quasi‐Newton optimization procedure is employed, with computation of the objective function gradients based upon a finite difference approach. The optimization procedure is developed to be general with regard to the choice of objective function, the details of the problem under consideration, and the computational methodology employed in solving the fluid flow and heat transfer problems. A novel implementation of a Taylor series‐based procedure for the fast solution of nearby problems is presented, which is found to greatly benefit the efficiency of the present methodology. Finally, a numerical experiment is presented, illustrating the use of the present method in the geometric optimization of a practical enhanced heat transfer device on the basis of the criterion of entropy generation minimization. The optimization of the fin spacing of a simple plate fin heat sink is considered, and a comparison of the computational results with results obtained by analytical optimization based upon empirical friction factor and Nusselt number correlations is given. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer and flow pattern from heated horizontal rectangular fin array under natural convection

This paper presents results of the experimental study conducted on heated horizontal rectangular fin array under natural convection. The temperature mapping and the prediction of the flow patterns over the fin array with variable fin spacing is carried out. Dimensionless fin spacing to height (S/H) ratio is varied from 0.05 to 0.3 and length to height ratio (L/H) = 5 is kept constant. The heater input to the fin array assembly is varied from 25 to 100 W. The single chimney flow pattern is observed from 8 to 12 mm fin spacing. The end flow is choked below 6 mm fin spacing. The single chimney flow pattern changes to sliding or end flow choking at 6 mm fin spacing. The average heat transfer coefficient (h_a) is very small (2.52–5.78 W/m² K) at 100 W for S = 5–12 mm. The h_a is very small (1.12–1.8 W/m² K) at 100 W for 2–4 mm fin spacing due to choked fin array end condition. The end flow is not sufficient to reach up to central portion of fin array and in the middle portion there is an unsteady down and up flow pattern resulting in sliding chimney. The central bottom portion of fin array channel does not contribute much in heat dissipation for S = 2–4 mm. The h_a has significantly improved at higher spacing as compared to lower spacing region. The single chimney flow pattern is preferred from heat transfer point of view. The optimum spacing is confirmed in the range of 8–10 mm. The average heat transfer results are compared with previous literature and showed similar trend and satisfactory agreement. An empirical equation has been proposed to correlate the average Nusselt number as a function of Grashof number and fin spacing to height ratio. The average error for this equation is ?0.32 %.     

Optimum fin spacing of rectangular fins on a vertical base in free convection heat transfer

The steady-state natural convection heat transfer from aluminum vertical rectangular fins extending perpendicularly from vertical rectangular base was investigated experimentally. Thirty different fin configurations were tested. Experiments were performed for fin lengths of 250 and 340 mm. Fin thickness was kept fixed at 3 mm. Fin height and fin spacing were varied from 5 to 25 mm and 5.75 to 85.5 mm, respectively. Five heat inputs ranging from 25 to 125 W were supplied for all fin configurations, hence; the base-to-ambient temperature differences were measured in order to evaluate the heat transfer rates from fin arrays. The results of experiments have shown that the convective heat transfer rate from fin arrays depends on geometric parameters and base-to-ambient temperature difference. The separate roles of fin height, fin spacing and base-to-ambient temperature difference were investigated. It was found that, for a given base-to-ambient temperature difference, the convective heat transfer rate from fin arrays takes on a maximum value as a function of fin spacing and fin height and an optimum fin spacing value which maximizes the convective heat transfer rate from the fin array is available for every fin height. These measurements were to extend data obtained earlier from aluminum fin-arrays using the same experimental system and method (Yüncü and Güvenç in Heat Mass Transfer 37:409–416, 2001). Data collated from earlier and present work cover the range of fin spacing from 4.5 to 85.5 mm. The fin length range was from 100 to 340 mm, the fin height from 5 to 25 mm and the number of fins per array 3 to 34. The range of base-to-ambient temperature difference was quite extensive, from 30 to 150 K. These results indicate that the optimum fin spacing is between 6.1 and 11.9 mm, for the fin arrays employed in the earlier and present work. A scale analysis is performed in order to estimate the order-of-magnitude of optimum fin spacing at a given fin length and base-to-ambient temperature difference. From the scale analysis, correlations to evaluate the optimum fin spacing value and the corresponding maximum convective heat transfer rate at a given fin length and base-to-ambient temperature difference were obtained.     

Boundary layer flow and heat transfer past a stretching plate with variable thermal conductivity

In the present paper, the boundary layer flow of viscous incompressible fluid over a stretching plate has been considered to solve heat flow problem with variable thermal conductivity. First, using similarity transformation, the components of velocity have been obtained. Then, the heat flow problem has been considered in two ways: (i) prescribed surface temperature (PST), and (ii) prescribed stretching plate heat flux (PHF) in case of variable thermal conductivity. Due to variable thermal conductivity, temperature profile has its two part—one mean temperature and other temperature profile induced due to variable thermal conductivity. The related results have been discussed with the help of graphs.     

Determining local values of the heat transfer coefficient on a fin surface

The paper discusses methods of establishing the course of a boiling curve that base on measurements of temperature distribution on a fin surface. Two cases of a local correlation between the heat transfer coefficient and the wall superheat are considered. The first is the case of a smooth copper fin for which the boiling curve is defined using the power-law formula. It is essential to determine, however, how sensitive this method is to measurement errors. In the other case, the local values of the heat transfer coefficient are approximated by means of a power-law polynomial. The method efficiency is studied using the example of a fin surface modified with a laser beam.     

Performance analysis and optimization of convective annular fins with internal heat generation

An analysis of the thermal performance for convective annular fins, having a general trapezoidal profile and internal heat generation, is presented. The solution of the optimal problem is also given when either the heat dissipation rate or the volume of the fin is specified. The results are expressed in suitable nondimensional variables that are specified by the problem, and presented graphically. The effect of the fin's profile and thermal conductivity upon the optimum dimensions is discussed. It is shown that the presence of heat generation reduces the ability of the fin to convect heat. Furthermore, certain limiting values of the heat generation that may be imposed on the fin for a feasible optimization are also derived.     

太阳能热电站容积换热器的数值研究

太阳能热电站容积换热器由以适当方式布置在封闭腔体内的圆柱阵列组成。其内部流动的复杂性增加了实验测量和数值场模拟的难度。本文采用连续模型对换热器内部的换热及压降进行了数值模拟。结果与实验数据相符良好     

Measurements of steady-state heat dissipation from miniaturized horizontally-based straight rectangular fin arrays

Experiments have been conducted to investigate the effects of miniaturizing the base plate dimensions of horizontally-based straight rectangular fin arrays on the steady state heat dissipation performance. The variation of the steady-state heat dissipation rates per unit base area and the average heat dissipation coefficients within a limited fin base excess temperature above the ambient temperature (from 20 to 50 °C) have been studied as integral aluminum alloy fin arrays were miniaturized by changing the ratio of the base width to length from 0.51 to 1.96 for two inter-fin spacing distances of 3 mm and 11 mm. The miniaturization process have been initiated from a square-based array of 49 × 49 mm (maximum base area of 24.51 × 10^–4m²) and terminated at a square-based array of 25 × 25 mm (minimum base area of 6.25 × 10^–4m²) with rectangular-based arrays of varying intermediate areas in between. Relevant non-dimensional parameters formulated by earlier similarity analyses for large fin arrays with comparable inter-fin-spacing distances and fin heights have been found inadequate for generalizing the results. Modifications to correlations proposed for large fin arrays have been made by including the effect of varying the value of the base width to length ratio parameter to correlate the data for miniaturized fin arrays. Two types of correlations for miniaturized horizontally-based straight rectangular fin arrays, one which used the inter-fin separation distance as the prime geometric parameter, and the other, which employed half the fin length, have been presented, on the basis of the experimental conditions of this investigation.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Computation of conjugate natural convection heat transfer from a rectangular fin on a partially heated horizontal base

In this study, a numerical investigation has been carried out to reveal the mechanism of fluid flow and heat transfer from a vertical rectangular fin attached to a partially heated horizontal base. The problem is a conjugate conduction-convection heat transfer problem with open boundaries. The governing equations for the problem are the conservation of mass, momentum and energy equations for the fluid and the heat conduction equation for the fin. The control volume technique based on the SIMPLEC algorithm with a nonstaggerred grid arrangement is employed to solve the governing equations. The effect of the heated base, on the mechanism of the fluid flow and heat transfer, is numerically investigated. Temperature distribution and flow patterns around the fin are plotted to support the discussion. Results are obtained for air at laminar and steady flow. Received on 15 May 1997     

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.     

Effect of variable ambient temperature on fin efficiency in a two-dimensional flow passage

The fin efficiency in a heat exchanger element that is a simplification of one row in a tube-and-fin heat exchanger was theoretically examined within wide ranges of the affecting variables: the conventional fin efficiency and the isothermal effectiveness of the heat exchanger. These variables are suggested for use also in the further studies. An analytical solution can be found for the case of a constant heat transfer coefficient. The ambient temperature variation alone decreases the fin efficiency less than 4%. The local heat transfer coefficient obtained from the numerical fluid flow simulations is strongly affected by the fin properties because the thermal boundary conditions for the fluid flow changes. On a poorly conducting fin surface the heat transfer coefficient in front of the fin base is much larger than on an isothermal fin because the heat flux is increasing in the flow direction. At low fin efficiencies this compensates for the decrease in fin efficiency due to ambient temperature variation.     

Performance evaluation and optimization of semi-dimpled slit fin

In this paper, the semi-dimpled slit fin is proposed and the characteristics of heat transfer and fluid flow are analyzed based on the orthogonal experiment design method. A serial studies on the effects of fin pitch, arrangement of semi-dimple, dimple radius on heat transfer and flow characteristics of semi-dimpled slit fin are investigated. The computational results show fin pitch (Fp) has significantly effected on the performance of heat transfer and fluid flow, the influence of arrangement of semi-dimple, the dimple radius (R) and the opening direction of semi-dimples dwindle. At the same time, compared to the general semi-dimpled slit fin, the heat transfer coefficient and JF factors of the optimized fin increase by 10.7–25.1 and 2.6–7.7 %, respectively. When Re ≤ 1,521, the overall performance of slit fin is better than that of optimized fin; while Re > 1,521, the overall performance of optimized fin is better than that of slit fin. Finally, the performance evaluation plot of enhanced heat transfer of heat exchanger is applied to analyze the optimized fin, it can be seen that optimization fin have better heat transfer performance under the same power consumption.     

Heat transfer from extended surfaces subject to variable heat transfer coefficient

The present article investigates the effect of locally variable heat transfer coefficient on the performance of extended surfaces (fins) subject to natural convection. Fins of different profiles have been investigated. The fin profiles presently considered are namely; straight and pin fin with rectangular (constant diameter), convex parabolic, triangular (conical) and concave parabolic profiles and radial fins with constant profile with different radius ratios. The local heat transfer coefficient was considered as function of the local temperature and has been obtained using the available correlations of natural convection for each pertinent extended surface considered. The performance of the fin has been expressed in terms of the fin efficiency. Comparisons between the present results for all fins considered and the results obtained for the corresponding fins subject to constant heat transfer coefficient along the fin are presented. Comparisons, i.e. showed an excellent agreement with the experimental results available in the literature. Results show that there is a considerable deviation between the fin efficiency calculated based on constant heat transfer coefficient and that calculated based on variable heat transfer coefficient and this deviation increases with the dimensionless parameter m.     

The optimum shape for converting rectangular fins when condensation occurs

There may be condensation on the fin surfaces of the air conditioning systems due to the temperature of the fin surfaces being below the dew point temperature of the water vapor in the surrounding air. Heat and mass transfer occur from the saturated air layer to the liquid water film and the latent heat of condensation is transferred to the fin. This study presents a quasilinearization solution for vertical rectangular fins when condensation occurs, assuming that the average convective heat and mass transfer coefficients are constant along the height of the fin. Rectangular fins with and without condensation on the surface have been compared and optimum fin dimensions have been given. The optimum fin length, the fin effectiveness and the average fin temperature in the case of condensation were found to be smaller than in the case of no condensation.     

A quasi‐dynamic procedure for coupled thermal simulations

This paper outlines the development and adaptation of a coupling strategy for transient temperature analysis in a solid via a conjugate heat transfer method. This study proposes a quasi‐dynamic coupling procedure to bridge the temporal disparities between the fluid and the solid. In this approach, dynamic thermal modeling in the solid is coupled with a sequence of steady states in the fluid. This quasi‐dynamic algorithm has been applied to the problem of convective heat transfer over, and transient conduction heat transfer within, a flat plate using the severe thermal conditions of a solid propellant rocket. Two different coupled thermal computations have been performed. In the first one—referred to as the reference computation—the coupling period is equal to the smallest solid time constant. In the second one, a very large coupling period is used. The results show that the procedure can predict accurate transient temperature fields at a reasonable computational cost. The simulation CPU time is approximately reduced by up to 90%, while maintaining a very good accuracy. All the details of the numerical test case are given in the paper. This application illustrates the capabilities and the overall efficiency of this coupled approach in a solid transient problem using long term simulations of time dependent flows. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of the body shape for minimum radiative heating along a flight trajectory

Space vehicles are subject to intense aerodynamic heating in planetary entry. According to estimates in [1], the heat shield mass for entry of a probe into the atmospheres of the outer planets can make up 20–50% of its total mass; here the radiative component predominates in the aerodynamic heating. It is therefore interesting to investigate methods of reducing the heat flux to the nose region of a vehicle. Analysis shows [2–6] that, for a given atmospheric composition, the heat-shield weight is determined by the trajectory, the body shape, the heat-protection method, and the chemical composition and the thermophysical and optical properties of the heat shield material. In such a general statement of the problem, optimization of the heat-shield mass depends on many parameters, and has not been solved hitherto. A number of papers have examined simpler problems, associated with reducing spacevehicle heating: optimization of the trajectory from the condition that the total heat flux to the body stagnation point should be a minimum for given probe parameters [2, 3], optimization of the characteristic probe size for a given trajectory [2–4], and optimization of the probe shape in a class of conical bodies at a given trajectory point [3, 5, 6J. In [7] a variational problem was formulated to determine the shape of an axisymmetric body from the condition that the radiative heat flux to the body at a given trajectory point should be a minimum for the entire surface, and an analytical solution was found for this in limiting cases. The present paper investigates a more general variational problem: determination of the shape of an axisymmetric body from the condition that the total radiative influx of heat to the body along its atmospheric trajectory should be a minimum. A solution has been obtained for a class of slender bodies for different isoperimetric conditions.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 94–100, March–April, 1978.     

Experimental study of convective heat transfer from a rotating finned tube in transverse air flow

 The convective heat transfer from fins to air has been evaluated using rotating annular fins subjected to an air flow parallel to the fins. The fin cooling is studied using infrared thermography. The thermal balance in a fin during its cooling process allows us to obtain the heat transfer coefficient from the temperature time evolution of the fin. Moreover, Particle Image Velocimetry allows us to obtain the flow field in the mid-plane between two fins. The influence of the fin spacing on the convective heat transfer is studied for various velocities of the superposed air flow and various fin rotational speeds. These tests were carried out for air flow Reynolds numbers (based on the shaft diameter and the velocity of the superposed air flow) between 2550 and 18200 and rotational Reynolds numbers (based on the shaft diameter and the peripheral speed) between 800 and 2.9 × 10⁴, for different fin spacings. Received: 14 May 1999/Accepted: 8 October 1999     

An analytical solution to the heat transfer problem in thick-walled hunt flow

The flow of a liquid metal in a rectangular duct, subject to a strong transverse magnetic field is of interest in a number of applications. An important application of such flows is in the context of coolants in fusion reactors, where heat is transferred to a lead-lithium eutectic. It is vital, therefore, that the heat transfer mechanisms are understood. Forced convection heat transfer is strongly dependent on the flow profile. In the hydrodynamic case, Nusselt numbers and the like, have long been well characterised in duct geometries. In the case of liquid metals in strong magnetic fields (magnetohydrodynamics), the flow profiles are very different and one can expect a concomitant effect on convective heat transfer. For fully developed laminar flows, the magnetohydrodynamic problem can be characterised in terms of two coupled partial differential equations. The problem of heat transfer for perfectly electrically insulating boundaries (Shercliff case) has been studied previously (Bluck et al., 2015). In this paper, we demonstrate corresponding analytical solutions for the case of conducting hartmann walls of arbitrary thickness. The flow is very different from the Shercliff case, exhibiting jets near the side walls and core flow suppression which have profound effects on heat transfer.     

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.     

Optimization of convective fin systems: a holistic approach

 A numerical analysis of natural convection heat transfer and entropy generation from an array of vertical fins, standing on a horizontal duct, with turbulent fluid flow inside, has been carried out. The analysis takes into account the variation of base temperature along the duct, traditionally ignored by most studies on such problems. One-dimensional fin equation is solved using a second order finite difference scheme for each of the fins in the system and this, in conjunction with the use of turbulent flow correlations for duct, is used to obtain the temperature distribution along the duct. The influence of the geometric and thermal parameters, which are normally employed in the design of a thermal system, has been studied. Correlations are developed for (i) the total heat transfer rate per unit mass of the fin system (ii) total entropy generation rate and (iii) fin height, as a function of the geometric parameters of the fin system. Optimal dimensions of the fin system for (i) maximum heat transfer rate per unit mass and (ii) minimum total entropy generation rate are obtained using Genetic Algorithm. As expected, these optima do not match. An approach to a `holistic' design that takes into account both these criteria has also been presented. Received on 22 February 2001 / Published online: 29 November 2001