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An investigation of the thermo-hydraulic performance of the smooth wavy fin-and-elliptical tube heat exchangers utilizing new type vortex generators

Lotfi, Babak ; Sundén, Bengt LU and Wang, Qiuwang (2016) In Applied Energy 162. p.1282-1302
Abstract
A three-dimensional CFD numerical simulation is successfully carried out on thermo-hydraulic characteristics of a new smooth wavy fin-and-elliptical tube (SWFET) heat exchanger with three new types of vortex generators (VGs), namely - rectangular trapezoidal winglet (RTW), angle rectangular winglet (ARW) and curved angle rectangular winglet (CARW). Several parameters have been examined in this study. There have a pronounced effect on the thermo-hydraulic performance. In addition the results are analyzed from the viewpoint of the field synergy principle which emphasizes that the reduction of the synergy angle between velocity and fluid temperature gradient is the principal mechanism for enhancement of heat transfer performance. These... (More)
A three-dimensional CFD numerical simulation is successfully carried out on thermo-hydraulic characteristics of a new smooth wavy fin-and-elliptical tube (SWFET) heat exchanger with three new types of vortex generators (VGs), namely - rectangular trapezoidal winglet (RTW), angle rectangular winglet (ARW) and curved angle rectangular winglet (CARW). Several parameters have been examined in this study. There have a pronounced effect on the thermo-hydraulic performance. In addition the results are analyzed from the viewpoint of the field synergy principle which emphasizes that the reduction of the synergy angle between velocity and fluid temperature gradient is the principal mechanism for enhancement of heat transfer performance. These parameters include: Reynolds number (based on the hydraulic diameter, Re-Dh = 500-3000), geometric shape of VGs, attack angle of VGs (alpha(VG) = 15-75 degrees), placement of VG pairs (up- or/and downstream), tube ellipticity ratio (e = 0.65-1.0) and wavy fin height (H = 0.8-1.6 mm). The results demonstrate that with increasing Reynolds number and wavy fin height, decreasing the tube ellipticity ratio, the heat transfer performance of the SWFET heat exchanger is enhanced. The SWFET heat exchanger with the advantages of using CARW VGs and RTW VGs at smaller and larger attack angles, respectively, presents good thermo-hydraulic performance enhancement. Finally, new correlations are proposed to estimate the values of the average Nusselt number Nu, friction factor f and synergy angle theta based on the Reynolds number, attack angle of VGs, tube ellipticity ratio and wavy fin height. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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publication status
published
subject
keywords
Smooth wavy fin-and-elliptical tube heat exchanger, Vortex generators, Thermo-hydraulic performance, Field synergy principle, 3D CFD numerical, simulation
in
Applied Energy
volume
162
pages
1282 - 1302
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000367631000113
  • scopus:84938629619
ISSN
1872-9118
DOI
10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.07.065
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1092546d-a85f-4d23-a0e1-eca95a42125b (old id 8754627)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:28:17
date last changed
2022-04-21 21:47:18
@article{1092546d-a85f-4d23-a0e1-eca95a42125b,
  abstract     = {{A three-dimensional CFD numerical simulation is successfully carried out on thermo-hydraulic characteristics of a new smooth wavy fin-and-elliptical tube (SWFET) heat exchanger with three new types of vortex generators (VGs), namely - rectangular trapezoidal winglet (RTW), angle rectangular winglet (ARW) and curved angle rectangular winglet (CARW). Several parameters have been examined in this study. There have a pronounced effect on the thermo-hydraulic performance. In addition the results are analyzed from the viewpoint of the field synergy principle which emphasizes that the reduction of the synergy angle between velocity and fluid temperature gradient is the principal mechanism for enhancement of heat transfer performance. These parameters include: Reynolds number (based on the hydraulic diameter, Re-Dh = 500-3000), geometric shape of VGs, attack angle of VGs (alpha(VG) = 15-75 degrees), placement of VG pairs (up- or/and downstream), tube ellipticity ratio (e = 0.65-1.0) and wavy fin height (H = 0.8-1.6 mm). The results demonstrate that with increasing Reynolds number and wavy fin height, decreasing the tube ellipticity ratio, the heat transfer performance of the SWFET heat exchanger is enhanced. The SWFET heat exchanger with the advantages of using CARW VGs and RTW VGs at smaller and larger attack angles, respectively, presents good thermo-hydraulic performance enhancement. Finally, new correlations are proposed to estimate the values of the average Nusselt number Nu, friction factor f and synergy angle theta based on the Reynolds number, attack angle of VGs, tube ellipticity ratio and wavy fin height. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Lotfi, Babak and Sundén, Bengt and Wang, Qiuwang}},
  issn         = {{1872-9118}},
  keywords     = {{Smooth wavy fin-and-elliptical tube heat exchanger; Vortex generators; Thermo-hydraulic performance; Field synergy principle; 3D CFD numerical; simulation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1282--1302}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Applied Energy}},
  title        = {{An investigation of the thermo-hydraulic performance of the smooth wavy fin-and-elliptical tube heat exchangers utilizing new type vortex generators}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.07.065}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.07.065}},
  volume       = {{162}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}