Compound heat transfer enhancement for shell side of double-pipe heat exchanger by helical fins and vortex generators

Abstract

To improve heat transfer performance of shell side of double-pipe heat exchanger with helical fins on its inner tube, some vortex generators (VGs) were installed along the centerline of the helical channel. Heat transfer performance and pressure drop characteristic of the enhanced heat exchangers were investigated using air as the working fluid and steam as the heating medium. The helical fins were in the annulus and span its full width at different helical pitch. Wing-type VGs (delta or rectangular wing) and winglet-type VGs (delta or rectangular winglet pair) were used to combine with helical fins. The friction factor and Nusselt number can be well correlated by power-law correlations in the Reynolds number range studied. In order to evaluate the thermal performance of the shell side enhanced over the shell side without enhancement, comparisons were made under three constraints: (1) identical mass flow rate, IMF; (2) identical pressure drop, IPD and (3) identical pumping power, IPP. The results show the shell side enhanced by the compound heat transfer enhancement has better performance than the shell side only enhanced by helical fins at shorter helical pitch under the three constraints.