THE EFFECT OF VORTEX GENERATOR BASE LENGTH ON THERMAL HYDRAULIC PERFORMANCE ACROSS FIN-AND-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

Authors

  • Mohd Fahmi Md Salleh Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (Pulau Pinang), Jalan Permatang Pauh, 13500 Permatang Pauh, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
  • Mazlan Abdul Wahid High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HiREF), Department of Thermofluids, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Seyed Alireza Ghazanfari High Speed Reacting Flow Laboratory (HiREF), Department of Thermofluids, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v79.11897

Keywords:

Vortex generator, fin and tube, rectangular, common flow down, common flow up

Abstract

Heat transfer enhancement is believed can be achieved by using vortex generator. In the past decades, many researches have been performed to investigate the effect of various vortex generator geometry and parameters including vortex generator angle of attack and height. However, less study has been conducted to investigate the influence of vortex generator length at different arrangement towards the heat transfer performance across the fin-and-tube heat exchanger (FTHE). Therefore, the effects of different strategy on the rectangular winglet vortex generator (RWVG) base length towards the thermal hydraulic performance across the FTHE were numerically investigated in this study. Two types of RWVG arrangement known as common flow down (CFD) or common flow up (CFU) arrangement were used and placed behind four rows of tube in inline arrangement. Total of 7 cases were investigated including the default RWVG, extended front and extended back for both RWVG in CFD and CFU arrangement together with FTHE without vortex generator which was set as the baseline case. The Reynolds number ranged from 500 to 900. It was found that the size of the wake region behind the RWVG contributed to the additional pressure drop penalty across the FTHE. Meanwhile, different thermal characteristics were found for different base length strategy in CFD and CFU arrangement. For RWVG arranged in CFD and CFU arrangement, the extended back case shows the highest heat transfer enhancement with 5 – 25 % and 5 – 15 % increment compared to the baseline case respectively. Based on JF factor evaluation, default RWVG in CFU arrangement provide better heat transfer enhancement than the pressure drop penalty compared to other RWVG cases with average JF factor value is 0.8. Nonetheless, none of the tested cases shows higher JF factor value than the baseline case.  

References

Sahin, B., Akkoca, A., Ozturk, N. A. and Akilli. H. 2006. Investigations of flow Characteristics in a Plate Fin and Tube Heat Exchanger Model Composed of Single Cylinder. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow. 27(3): 522-530.

Jacobi, A. M. and Shah, R. K. 1995. Heat Transfer Surface Enhancement Through the Use of Longitudinal Vortices: A Review of Recent Progress. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science. 11(3): 295-309.

Lemouedda, A., Breuer, M., Franz, E., Botsch, T. and Delgado, A. 2010. Optimization of the Angle of Attack of Delta-Winglet Vortex Generators in a Plate-Fin-and- Tube Heat Exchanger. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 53(23-24): 5386-5399.

Fiebig, M., Valencia, A. and Mitra, N. K. 1993. Wing-Type Vortex Generators for Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers. Experimental Thermal Fluid Science. 7: 287-295.

Pesteei, S. M., Subbarao, P. M. V. and Agarwal, R. S. 2005. Experimental Study of the Effect of Winglet Location on Heat Transfer Enhancement and Pressure Drop in Fin-Tube Heat Exchangers. Applied Thermal Engineering. 25(11-12): 1684-1696.

Kwak, K. M., Torii, K. and Nishino, K. 2005. Simultaneous Heat Transfer Enhancement and Pressure Loss Reduction for Finned-Tube Bundles with the First or Two Transverse Rows of Built-In Winglets. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science. 29(5): 625-632.

Song, G. D. and Nishino, K. 2008. Numerical Investigation for Net Enhancement in Thermal-Hydraulic Performance of Compact Fin-Tube Heat Exchangers with Vortex Generators. Journal of Thermal Science and Technology. 3(2): 368-380.

Lotfi, B., Sunden, B. and Wang, Q. 2016. An Investigation of the Thermos-Hydraulic Performance of the Smooth Wavy Fin-and-Elliptical Tube Heat Exchangers Utilizing New Type Vortex Generators. Applied Energy. 162: 1282-1302.

Ameel, B., Degroote, J., Huisseune, H., Vierendeels, J. and Paepe, M. D. 2014. Interaction Effects between Parameters in a Vortex Generator and Louvered Fin Compact Heat Exchanger. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 77: 247-256.

Gong, B., Wang, L. B. and Lin, Z. M. 2015. Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Circular Tube Bank Fin Heat Exchanger with Fins Punched Curve Rectangular Vortex Generators in the Wake Regions of the Tubes. Applied Thermal Engineering. 75: 224-238.

Li, M. J., Zhou, W. J., Zhang, J. F., Fan, J. F., He Y. L. and Tao, W. Q. 2014. Heat Transfer and Pressure Performance of a Plain Fin with Radiantly Arranged Winglets around Each Tube in Fin-and-Tube Heat Transfer Surface. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 70: 734-744.

Zeng, M., Tang, L. H., Lin, M. and Wang, Q. W. 2010. Optimization of Heat Exchangers with Vortex-Generator Fin by Taguchi Method. Applied Thermal Engineering. 30: 1775-1783.

Tang, L. H., Zeng, M. and Wang, Q. W. 2009. Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Air-Side Performance of Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers with Various Fin Patterns. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Sciences. 33: 818-827.

Gholami, A. A., Wahid M. A. and Mohammed, H. A. 2014. Heat Transfer Enhancement and Pressure Drop for Fin-and-Tube Compact Heat Exchangers with Wavy Rectangular Winglet-Type Vortex Generators. International Communications in Heat Transfer. 54: 132-140.

ANSYS Fluent User’s Guide. 2013. Canonsburg, P.A.: ANSYS Inc.

Lu, G. and Zhou, G. 2016. Numerical Simulation on Performances of Plane and Curved Winglet-Pair Vortex Generators in a Rectangular Channel and Field Synergy Analysis. International Journal of Thermal Sciences. 109: 323-333.

Lin, Z. M., Liu, C. P. and Wang, L. B. 2015. Numerical Study of Flow and Heat Transfer Enhancement of Circular Tube Bank Fin Exchanger with Curved Delta-Winglet Vortex Generators. Applied Thermal Engineering. 88: 198-210.

Wang, C. C. and Chi, K. Y. 2000. Heat Transfer and Friction Characteristics of Plain Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers, Part 1: New Experimental Data. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 43: 2681-2691.

Salleh, M. F. M., Wahid, M. A., Saat, A., Kamaruzaman, N., Sies, M. M. and Abidin, U. 2017. Flow Visualization of Flat and Curved Trapezoidal Winglet Vortex Generator in Fin-and-Tube Channel in Inline Arrangement. International Review of Mechanical Engineering (I.R.E.M.E.). 11(2): 102-107.

Salviano, L. O. 2014. Optimization of Vortex Generators Positions and Angles in Fin-Tube Compact Heat Exchanger at Low Reynolds Number. Ph.D. Thesis. Sao Paulo State University.

Gholami, A. A., Wahid, M. A., Mohammed, H. A., Saat, A., Yasin, M. F. M., Sies, M. M., Kamaruzaman, N. and Rahman, M. M. 2016. Numerical Evaluation of Thermo-Hydraulic Performance in Fin-and-Tube Compact Heat Exchangers with Different Tube Cross-Sections. Jurnal Teknologi. 78(8-4): 113-118.

Downloads

Published

2017-11-20

Issue

Vol. 79 No. 7-3: Advances in Thermal Sciences and Fluid Flow

Section

Science and Engineering

License

Copyright of articles that appear in Jurnal Teknologi belongs exclusively to Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Penerbit UTM Press). This copyright covers the rights to reproduce the article, including reprints, electronic reproductions, or any other reproductions of similar nature.

How to Cite

THE EFFECT OF VORTEX GENERATOR BASE LENGTH ON THERMAL HYDRAULIC PERFORMANCE ACROSS FIN-AND-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER. (2017). Jurnal Teknologi, 79(7-3). https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v79.11897