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Measurement of heat transfer coefficient and pressure drops in a compact heat exchanger with lance and offset fins for water based Al2O3 nano-fluids

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Abstract

Compact Heat Exchangers (CHEs) are widely used in various applications in thermal fluid-systems including aerospace due to their compactness and light weight coupled with high effectiveness. Among the different types of CHEs for Aircraft Environmental Control System (ECS) and Avionics cooling applications, a cross-flow CHE with Lance & Offset fin is of special interest because of their high heat rejection capability. In the present work, the heat transfer coefficient of water based Al2O3 nano-fluid (NF) flowing in a Compact Plate-fin Heat Exchanger having Lance & Offset fins is studied experimentally. As part of experimental investigation a test setup is designed and developed. Experiments are conducted in the range of mass flux from 50 to 350 kg/s m2 (100 ≤ Re ≤ 600) at room temperature as well as at higher temperatures up to 70 °C. In this study, Al2O3 volume concentration in water is varied from 0.255% to 0.51%. The variation of heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops of Al2O3 nano-fluid with respect to water are presented in graphical form for different mass fluxes. The heat transfer coefficient gets enhanced in low NF temperature regions (between 30 °C-45 °C) up to 25% for 1%NF and up to 35% for 2%NF, where as there is only a marginal improvement at higher operating temperatures (between 60 °C-75 °C). The uncertainty analysis is carried out for heat transfer coefficient based on sensors specification.

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Abbreviations

A:

Total heat transfer area (m2)

b:

Fin height (m)

C:

Heat capacity rate

C*:

Ratio of heat capacity rates

cp :

Specific heat capacity (J kg−1 K−1)

Dh :

Hydraulic diameter (m)

dp :

Particle diameter (m)

F:

Flow meter

f v :

Volumetric particle fraction

h:

Heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1)

j :

Colburn factor

k:

Thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1).

l:

Length (m)

m:

Mass flux, kg m−2 s−1

NTU:

Number of transfer units

Pr:

Prandtl number

Q:

heat transfer rate (W)

Re:

Reynolds number

s:

Fin spacing (m)

T:

Temperatures/Temperature sensor

t:

Fin thickness (m)

U:

Overall heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1)

W:

Mass flow rate (kg s−1)

ρ:

Density (kg m−3)

ε:

Effectiveness

μ :

Viscosity, (m pa sec)

η:

Overall fin efficiency

bf:

Base fluid

c:

Cold side

h:

Hot side

i:

Inlet

o:

Outlet

min:

Minimum

max:

Maximum

np:

Nanoparticle

w:

Water

CHE:

Compact Heat Exchanger

ECS:

Environmental Control System

FPI:

Fins Per Inch

lpm:

Liter per minute

NF:

Nanofluid

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Acknowledgements

The research visit of the first author C. Ranganayakulu was financed by UNISA, Johannesburg, South Africa and permitted by Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore, India. The financial support and official permission of these two organizations are highly appreciated. Authors gratefully acknowledge and sincerely thank Mr. V. Ramnath from Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UNISA for his useful technical discussions on solving ε-NTU equations and provision of associated software for estimation of NTU values.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore, 560066, India

    Ranganayakulu Chennu

  2. Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, CSET, University of South Africa, Florida Science Campus, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa

    Ranganayakulu Chennu & Vasudeva Rao Veeredhi

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  1. Ranganayakulu Chennu
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  2. Vasudeva Rao Veeredhi
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Correspondence to Ranganayakulu Chennu.

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Chennu, R., Veeredhi, V.R. Measurement of heat transfer coefficient and pressure drops in a compact heat exchanger with lance and offset fins for water based Al2O3 nano-fluids. Heat Mass Transfer 56, 257–267 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-019-02707-w

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