Heat transfer characteristics and entropy generation for wing-shaped-tubes with longitudinal external fins in cross-flow

• Published in: Journal of mechanical science and technology Vol. 30; no. 6; pp. 2849 - 2863
• Main Authors: Sayed Ahmed, Sayed Ahmed E., Mesalhy, Osama M., Abdelatief, Mohamed A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers 01-06-2016; Springer Nature B.V; 대한기계학회
• Subjects: Bundling; Control; Cross flow; Design parameters; Dynamical Systems; Engineering; Entropy; Fins; Friction; Heat exchangers; Heat transfer; Industrial and Production Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Software packages; Temperature distribution; Tubes; Vibration; 기계공학; Heat transfer characteristics; Longitudinal fins; Wing-shaped-tubes; Cross-flow; Entropy generation; Fluent
• ISSN: 1738-494X; 1976-3824
• DOI: 10.1007/s12206-016-0544-4

A numerical study is conducted to clarify heat transfer characteristics, effectiveness and entropy generation for a bundle of wingshaped-tubes attached to Longitudinal fins (LF) at downstream side. The air-side Rea ranged from 1.8 x 10
3
to 9.7 x 10
3
. The fin height (h
f
) and fin thickness (δ) have been changed as: (2 mm ≤ h
f
≤ 12 mm) and (1.5 mm ≤ δ ≤ 3.5 mm). The analysis of entropy generation is based on the principle of minimizing the rate of total entropy generation that includes the generation of entropy due to heat transfer and friction losses. The temperature field around the wing-shaped-tubes with (LF) is predicted using commercial CFD FLUENT 6.3.26 software package. Correlations of Nu
a
, St
a
, and Bejan number (
Be
), as well as the irreversibility distribution ratio (Φ) in terms of Re
a
and design parameters for the studied bundle are presented. Results indicated that, installing fins with heights from 2 to 12 mm results in an increase in Nua from 11 to 36% comparing with that of wing-shaped tubes without fins (NOF). The highest and lowest values of effectiveness (ε) at every value of the considered Re
a
range are occurred at h
f
= 6 mm and (NOF), respectively. The wing-shaped-tubes heat exchanger with h
f
= 6 mm has the highest values of (ε), efficiency index (η) and area goodness factor (
G
a
) and also the lowest values of Φ and hence the best performance comparing with other arrangements. The minimum values of Φ are occurred at h
f
= 6 mm. (
Be
) decreases with increasing Re
a
for all studied h
f
. The heat transfer irreversibility predominates for (1800 ≤ Re
a
≤ 4200) while the opposite is true for (6950 < Re
a
≤ 9700). δ has negligible effect on Nu
a
and heat transfer irreversibility. Comparisons between the experimental and numerical results of the present study and those, previously, obtained for similar available studies showed good agreements.