Petpices Eiamsa-Ard

Thermal Performance Evaluation of Heat Exchanger Tubes Equipped with Coupling Twisted Tapes

The present work has been conducted to investigate the effect of coupling twisted tapes on heat transfer enhancement in a heat exchanger. The effects of (1) twisted tape orientation (co-coupling twisted tapes or counter-coupling twisted tapes), (2) width ratio, and (3) twist ratio were also examined. Results of coupling twisted tapes were also compared to those of a typical twisted tape. Experimental results showed that the use of counter-coupling twisted tapes resulted in higher heat transfer, friction loss, and thermal performance factor than that of co-coupling twisted tapes and typical twisted tapes. Thermal performance factor increased as twist ratio and Reynolds number decreased while width ratio increased.

Simulation of Turbulent Heat Transfer in a Tube Fitted with Twisted Tape Placed Separately from the Tube Walls

The effects of loose-fit twisted tape (LFT) on the heat transfer rate, friction factor, fluid phenomena and thermal performance of a tube under constant wall temperature are examined. It is observed that apart from the rise of Reynolds number, the reduction of the clearance ratio (c/D) leads to an increase in the heat transfer and pressure loss. According to the numerical results, the heat transfer and friction factor in the tubes with loose-fit twisted tape (LFT) for the smallest clearance ratio of c/D = 0.05 are higher those other clearance ratios. In addition, the thermal performances of clearance ratio c/D = 0.05 are found to be higher than those other clearance ratios (c/D) for all Reynolds numbers examined.

Influences of twisted-tape with parallel rectangular-wing on thermal performance of a heat exchanger

The present paper reports heat transfer enhancement and friction factor characteristics in the tubes inserted with rectangular-winged twisted-tapes (TT-RWs). The wing-depth ratio (d/W) was varied from 0.1 to 0.3 while the tape-twist ratio was kept constant at y/W = 4.0. The experiments were conducted under uniform heat flux condition for Reynolds number between 5500 and 20,200 (based on the inner diameter, D), using water as the working fluid. The tubes with typical twisted tape (TT) and twisted tape with alternate-axis (TA) as well as a plain tube were also tested for assessment. The obtained results demonstrate that the utilization of the tubes with TT-RWs leads to the increases of both Nusselt number and friction compared to those from the uses of the tubes with TT, TA and the plain tube. In addition, Nusselt number increases as a wing-depth ratio of the twisted tape increases. The improvement of Nusselt number is directly related to the superior destruction of the boundary layer which is responsible by the stronger swirl flow and turbulence intensity. According to the results, the TT-RW with d/W = 0.3 yields the highest Nusselt number which is around 100% higher than that of the plain tube, corresponding to the thermal performance factor of 1.36 at constant pumping power.