Anica Trp

Numerical Study of Heat Transfer and Analysis of Optimal Fin Pitch in a Wavy Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchanger

In this paper an analysis of laminar heat transfer and fluid flow in a wavy fin-and-tube heat exchanger has been carried out. Three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation results of a circular tube heat exchanger were compared with published numerical and experimental results. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) procedure was validated by comparing average Nusselt numbers, and good agreement between published and calculated results has been accomplished. The influence of inlet air velocity, varying from 0.5 to 5 m s−1, as well as fin pitch, varying from 0.4 to 4 mm, on heat transfer and pressure drop conditions has been studied. The results have shown that there is an optimal fin pitch for each air velocity, which gives the best heat exchanger performance from the heat transfer point of view.