Geometry Effects on Turbulent Flow and Heat Transfer in Internally Finned Tubes

Abstract

A parametric study has been performed on turbulent flow and heat transfer in internally finned tubes. For a rectangular fin profile, the effects of fin number N, fin width s, fin height H, and helix angle γ were numerically investigated for the conditions of N=10∼40,H=0.03∼0.1,s=0.05∼0.22,γ=10 deg∼40 deg, and Re=40,000. In addition, the performance of three fin profiles—rectangle, triangle, and round crest—with the same fin heights, width, and helix angles were compared for Reynolds numbers between 10,000 and 70,000. Rectangular and triangular fins behave similarly; for some geometric conditions the round crest fin has lower friction factors and Nusselt numbers (17 and 10 percent, respectively) than the rectangular fin. However, when the number of fins is large, the round crest fin can have larger friction factors (about 16 percent). Damping of turbulence energy in the interfin region is credited for the reversal of the typical trends.