Comparisons on the thermal and entropic performance of helical tubes with varying cross-sections with constant wall temperature

Abstract

This study investigates the thermal-hydraulic behavior of helical tubes with different cross-section types. The flow was considered to be in a turbulent flow regime, and the wall temperature of the tube was considered to be constant. Circle, horizontal oval, vertical oval, square, horizontal rectangle, vertical rectangle, equilateral triangle, and hexagons were eight cross-section types assessed in this study. Findings demonstrated that across the evaluated range of mass flow rates, cases with triangular cross-sections had the highest friction factor values. Also, it was observed that these cases have the largest and the most intense vorticity among all other cases. It was revealed that cases with sharp regions include vortices that increase the loss of kinetic energy. In circular cross-section and triangular cross-section examples, the Nu number was most varied. There is a 58% difference between maximum Nu values for circular and triangular cross-sections. The case with a circular cross-section and a mass flow rate of 2 kg/s exhibited the highest PEC factor value of approximately 1.001. Finally, it was determined that a circle cross-section is the best according to the first law of thermodynamics, but a triangular cross-section performed 52% better when compared to other cross-section forms according to the second law of thermodynamics.