Open Access

ARTICLE

EFFECTS OF GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS FOR WAVY FINNED-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER IN TURBULENT FLOW: A CFD MODELING

Arafat A. Bhuiyan^a,c, M. Ruhul Amin^b, Jamal Naser^c, A. K. M. Sadrul Islam^a

a Department of Mechanical Engineering, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Board Bazar, Gazipur-1704, Bangladesh
b Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, MT 59717, USA
c Faculty of Science Engineering and Technology (FSET), Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria-3122, Australia

* Corresponding Author: Email:

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer 2015, 6, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.6.5

Abstract

In this study, the effects of thermal and hydraulic characteristics of wavy fin and tube heat exchanger are investigated. Simulation has been carried out by a commercial computational fluid dynamics code, ANSYS CFX12.0. The main objective of this study is to investigate the flow characteristics in turbulent flow. Results are predicted for the turbulent flow regime (2100≤Re≤7000) and compared with author’s previous work for laminar (400 ≤Re≤1200) and transitional (1300≤Re≤2000) flow regime. Regarding turbulence, the k-ω model was used to predict the turbulent flow characteristics with 5% turbulence intensity. Predicted results were compared with the experimental data for the purpose of validation and the discrepancy is found within 10% in error range. Parametric study was conducted for different pitches and wavy angles. Flow characteristics obtained for the turbulent range is in line with the pattern observed in laminar and transitional ranges. This study demonstrates a clear understanding and relationship of among different flow ranges and the effects of different geometric parameters on the performance of heat exchanger.

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Keywords

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