Abstract
Calculation of fin efficiency is necessary for the design of heat exchangers. This efficiency can be calculated for individual finned tubes or continuous fins. Continuous fins are mostly used in plate-fin and tube heat exchangers (PFTHEs). In most cases, the basic elements of those PFTHEs are circular, oval or flattened pipes, which contain circular or polygonal fins. Continuous fins, as can be observed in PFTHEs, are divided into virtual fins. Those fins can have a rectangular shape for an inline arrangement of pipes or a hexagonal shape for a staggered arrangement of pipes. This research shows a methodology of using the finite element method for calculating the efficiency of fins of any shape, placed on pipes of any shape. This paper presents examples of determining the efficiency of seeming fins, which are most commonly used in PFTHEs. In the article, we also compare the precision of calculations of the efficiency of complex-shaped fins using exact analytical methods and approximated methods: the equivalent circular fin method (Schmidt’s method) and the sector method. The results of the analytical methods and the approximate methods are compared to the results of numerical simulations. The calculations for continuous fins with complicated shapes of virtual fins, e.g., hexagonal elongated or segmented, are also presented.
Highlights
Calculating the Efficiency of Complex-Finned surfaces are widely used, e.g., in electronic components, heating, cooling and ventilation systems, power plants and car radiators
The main exchangers used in the cross-flow are plate-fin and tube heat exchangers
The numerical method used to determine the fin efficiency and the distribution of temperature may be implemented for any geometry of the fins and be applied to any geometry of the pipes
Summary
Finned surfaces are widely used, e.g., in electronic components, heating, cooling and ventilation systems, power plants and car radiators. There is a possibility to calculate the exact value of the fin efficiency in the case of simple shapes such as straight or circular fins [5]. Numerical methods are intended to determine the efficiency of the fin for both simple and complex fin shapes [8]. Stabilization of this temperature meant a sufficiently dense mesh On this basis, the sizes of mesh elements for numerical simulation were selected, the efficiency of individual fins was determined. Numerical simulations were conducted for all fin shapes and the following mesh element sizes:. Comparison fin efficiency using theofformula below:between approximate and numerical methods for complex fin shapes—virtual rectangular and virtual hexagonal Comparison of fin efficiency between particular numerical simulations for different mesh element sizethe values for complex fin shapes—elongated hexagonally and segmented.
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