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3D numerical simulation on fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in multistage heat exchanger with slit fins

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Abstract

In this paper, a numerical investigation is performed for three-stage heat exchangers with plain plate fins and slit fins respectively, with a three-dimensional laminar conjugated model. The tubes are arranged in a staggered way, and heat conduction in fins is considered. In order to save the computer resource and speed up the numerical simulation, the numerical modeling is carried out stage by stage. In order to avoid the large pressure drop penalty in enhancing heat transfer, a slit fin is presented with the strip arrangement of “front coarse and rear dense” along the flow direction. The numerical simulation shows that, compared to the plain plate fin heat exchanger, the increase in the heat transfer in the slit fin heat exchanger is higher than that of the pressure drop, which proves the excellent performance of this slit fin. The fluid flow and heat transfer performance along the stages is also provided.

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Abbreviations

A :

Heat transfer area (m2)

c p :

Specific heat at constant pressure (kJ kg−1 K−1)

D e :

Outer tube diameter (m)

f :

Friction factor

h :

Heat transfer coefficient (W m− 2 K−1)

L :

Fin depth in air flow direction (m)

ΔP :

Pressure drop (Pa)

Re :

Reynolds number

T :

Temperature (K)

\({\vec{U}}\) :

Velocity vector

u :

Velocity in x direction (m/s)

v :

Velocity in y direction (m/s)

w :

Velocity in z direction (m/s)

λ:

Thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

μ:

Dynamic viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

ρ:

Air density (kg m−3)

Γ:

Diffusion coefficient, λ/c p

θ:

Local intersection angle (degree)

\({\overline{\theta}}\) :

Mean intersection angle (degree)

in:

Inlet

m:

Mean

max:

Maximum

min:

Minimum

out:

Outlet

w:

Wall

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number 50476046) and the National Key Project of Fundamental R & D of China (Grant No. 2007CB206902).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    W. Q. Tao

  2. Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, 119260

    Y. P. Cheng & T. S. Lee

Authors
  1. W. Q. Tao
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  2. Y. P. Cheng
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  3. T. S. Lee
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Correspondence to W. Q. Tao.

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Tao, W.Q., Cheng, Y.P. & Lee, T.S. 3D numerical simulation on fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in multistage heat exchanger with slit fins. Heat Mass Transfer 44, 125–136 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-006-0227-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-006-0227-2

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