Similar articles

Abstract: fin arrangement, which can cause temperature to be distributed non-uniformly and decrease heat exchange efficiency, can also affect fluid flow and distribution in different channels of a plate-fin heat exchanger. To reduce fluid maldistribution, the fluid flow and distribution should be investigated systematically. However, there is as yet no research reported on the fin arrangement effect. We investigated fluid flow and heat transfer at the inlet of a plate-fin heat exchanger by numerical calculation combined with simulation analysis. We simulated the fluid flow under seven kinds of fin arrangement, and analyzed the effects. The distribution of fluid parameters in four monitor positions among three sections was examined when the inlet flow velocity was 1 m/s with an inlet structure arranged with different numbers of fins. Denser fin arrangements among inlet, diversion, and heat exchange sections all intensify the turbulence at the outlet. With increase of arrangement density, the fluid flow direction will be changed and the fluid distribution inside the exchanger will be intensified to equalize the fluid temperature in different channels of the same layer. Furthermore, the effects of 18 combinations of fins in different sections on fluid flow were studied. fin arrangements in different sections have more significant effect on turbulence than flow velocity and pressure; in comparison with the inlet and heat exchange sections, the diversion section has a significant effect on turbulence at the outlet of the heat exchanger.

The authors investigated fluid flow and heat transfer at inlet of the plate-fin heat exchanger under different fin arrangements. The CFD model of the plate fin heat exchanger was created and the heat transfer under the eighteen kinds of fin arrangements under single layer was studied. The CFD code FLUENT was used to determine the velocity distribution, pressure level and temperature field.

板翅换热器入口位置不同翅片排列方式对流体流动与换热的影响

[1]Al-Waked, R., Nasif, M.S., Morrison, G., et al., 2013. CFD simulation of air to air enthalpy heat exchanger. Energy Conversion and Management, 74:377-385.

[2]Gao, X.M., Li, W.Y., Wang, J.S., 2012. Flow and heat transfer characteristics of low flow resistance surface. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 48(08):128-134 (in Chinese).

[3]Gnanasekaran, N., Balaji, C., 2011. A bayesian approach for the simultaneous estimation of surface heat transfer coefficient and thermal conductivity from steady state experiments on fins. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 54(13-14):3060-3068.

[4]Gullapalli, V.S., Sundén, B., 2014. CFD simulation of heat transfer and pressure drop in compact brazed plate heat exchanger. Heat Transfer Engineering, 35(4):358-366.

[5]He, Y.L., Tao, W.Q., 2009. Fundamental mechanism of enhancing single-phase convective heat transfer. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 45(03):27-38 (in Chinese).

[6]Hu, H.G., Zhang, C., 2007. A modified k-ε turbulence model for the simulation of two-phase flow and heat transfer in condensers. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 50(9-10):1641-1648.

[7]Huang, Y.Q., Yu, X.L., Lu, G.D., 2008. Numerical simulation and optimization design of the EGR cooler in vehicle. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A, 9(9):1270-1276.

[8]Huang, Y.Q., Huang, R., Yu, X.L., 2013. Simulation, experimentation, and collaborative analysis of adjacent heat exchange modules in a vehicular cooling system. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A (Applied Physics & Engineering), 14(6):417-426.

[9]Kundu, B., Bhanja, D., Lee, K.S., 2012. A model on the basis of analytics for computing maximum heat transfer in porous fins. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 55(25-26):7611-7622.

[10]Li, X.W., Meng, J.A., Li, Z.X., 2011. Roughness enhanced mechanism for turbulent convective heat transfer. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 54(9-10):1775-1781.

[11]Lin, Q.Y., Li, P.N., Lin, R.D., et al., 2004. Study on the heat transfer enhancement by the hydraulic turbine in a tube. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 40(05):165-169 (in Chinese).

[12]Liu, J.C., Zhang, S.Y., Zhou, Z.Y., 2014. Analysis of channel structure improvement and its influence on fluid flow in plate-fin heat exchanger. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 50(18):167-176 (in Chinese).

[13]Liu, Z.M., Pang, Y., Shen, F., 2012. Effects of geometry on liquid flow and heat transfer in microchannels. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 48(16):139-142 (in Chinese).

[14]Lozza, G., Merlo, U., 2001. An experimental investigation of heat transfer and friction losses of interrupted and wavy fins for fin-and-tube heat exchangers. International Journal of Refrigeration, 24(5):409-416.

[15]Ma, Y.F., Yuan, Y.C., Liu, Y.Z., et al., 2011. Effect of longitudinal pitch on heat transfer and flow resistance characteristics of serrated spiral-finned-tube banks. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 47(08):163-168 (in Chinese).

[16]Qiu, J., Wei, W.J., Zhang, S.Z., et al., 2010. Research on performance of distributors used in plate heat exchangers based on CFD numerical simulation. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 46(14):130-137 (in Chinese).

[17]Sahiti, N., Durst, F., Dewan, A., 2005. Heat transfer enhancement by pin element. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 48(23-24):4738-4747.

[18]Wang, J.S., Liu, Z.Y., Zhang, J.F., et al., 2007. Large eddy simulation on heat transfer enhancement of inclined-cut ellipsoidal vortex generator. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 43(10):55-61 (in Chinese).

[19]Wongwises, S., Chokeman, Y., 2005. Effect of fin pitch and number of tube rows on the air side performance of herringbone wavy fin and tube heat exchangers. Energy Conversion and Management, 46(13-14):2216-2231.

[20]Yang, K.S., Chu, W.H., Chen, I.Y., et al., 2007. A comparative study of the airside performance of heat sinks having pin fin configurations. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 50(23-24):4661-4667.

[21]Yang, Y.C., Chen, W.L., 2009. An iterative regularization method in simultaneously estimating the inlet temperature and heat-transfer rate in a forced-convection pipe. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 52(7-8):1928-1937.

[22]Yang, Y.T., Hwang, M.L., 2009. Numerical simulation of turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in heat exchangers fitted with porous media. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 52(13-14):2956-2965.

[23]Zhang, L., Qian, H.W., Yu, X.M., et al., 2007. Heat transfer enhancement mechanism of heat exchanger tubes with rotating twisted tape insert. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 43(01):139-143 (in Chinese).

[24]Zhang, X.B., Chen, J.Y., Yao, L., et al., 2014. Research and development of large-scale cryogenic air separation in China. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A (Applied Physics & Engineering), 15(5):309-322.