Heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver- and plain-finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubes

Louvered fins constitute a major methodology for heat transfer enhancement. Of critical significance in evaluating the worthiness of such fins is the comparison between the heat transfer and pressure drop for a thus-finned heat exchanger with the baseline case of a counterpart plain-finned heat exch...

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Main Authors: J.M. Gorman, M. Carideo, E.M. Sparrow, J.P. Abraham
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2015-03-01
Series:Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X15000088
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author J.M. Gorman
M. Carideo
E.M. Sparrow
J.P. Abraham
author_facet J.M. Gorman
M. Carideo
E.M. Sparrow
J.P. Abraham
author_sort J.M. Gorman
collection DOAJ
description Louvered fins constitute a major methodology for heat transfer enhancement. Of critical significance in evaluating the worthiness of such fins is the comparison between the heat transfer and pressure drop for a thus-finned heat exchanger with the baseline case of a counterpart plain-finned heat exchanger. Up to the present, it appears that such comparisons are confined to heat exchangers in which one of the participating fluids passes through circular tubes. In another basic geometry in which louvered fins have been employed, the aforementioned participating fluid passes through flattened tubes which are virtually rectangular in cross section. The focus of the present paper is to obtain results for the latter basic geometry for both louver-fin-based heat exchangers and counterpart plain-fin-based heat exchangers. The results were obtained by means of numerical simulation over a range of Reynolds numbers spanning approximately a factor of five. Over this range, enhancements of the heat transfer rate ranged from factors of approximately 2.2–2.8. Over this same Reynolds number range, the pressure drop increased by factors of 2.3–3.6. This outcome is attributable to the fact that the rate of heat transfer is less sensitive to the velocity than is the pressure drop.
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spelling doaj.art-59a47dd98f294694810063153fc1b52f2022-12-22T02:29:59ZengElsevierCase Studies in Thermal Engineering2214-157X2015-03-015C12212610.1016/j.csite.2015.03.002Heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver- and plain-finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubesJ.M. Gorman0M. Carideo1E.M. Sparrow2J.P. Abraham3Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USASchool of Engineering, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN, USALouvered fins constitute a major methodology for heat transfer enhancement. Of critical significance in evaluating the worthiness of such fins is the comparison between the heat transfer and pressure drop for a thus-finned heat exchanger with the baseline case of a counterpart plain-finned heat exchanger. Up to the present, it appears that such comparisons are confined to heat exchangers in which one of the participating fluids passes through circular tubes. In another basic geometry in which louvered fins have been employed, the aforementioned participating fluid passes through flattened tubes which are virtually rectangular in cross section. The focus of the present paper is to obtain results for the latter basic geometry for both louver-fin-based heat exchangers and counterpart plain-fin-based heat exchangers. The results were obtained by means of numerical simulation over a range of Reynolds numbers spanning approximately a factor of five. Over this range, enhancements of the heat transfer rate ranged from factors of approximately 2.2–2.8. Over this same Reynolds number range, the pressure drop increased by factors of 2.3–3.6. This outcome is attributable to the fact that the rate of heat transfer is less sensitive to the velocity than is the pressure drop.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X15000088EnhancementLouvered finsPlain finsHeat exchangerNumerical simulation
spellingShingle J.M. Gorman
M. Carideo
E.M. Sparrow
J.P. Abraham
Heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver- and plain-finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubes
Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Enhancement
Louvered fins
Plain fins
Heat exchanger
Numerical simulation
title Heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver- and plain-finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubes
title_full Heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver- and plain-finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubes
title_fullStr Heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver- and plain-finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubes
title_full_unstemmed Heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver- and plain-finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubes
title_short Heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver- and plain-finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubes
title_sort heat transfer and pressure drop comparison of louver and plain finned heat exchangers where one fluid passes through flattened tubes
topic Enhancement
Louvered fins
Plain fins
Heat exchanger
Numerical simulation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X15000088
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