Heat transfer performance for turbulent flow through a tube using double helical tape inserts

Abstract

The augmentation of heat transfer for turbulent fluid flow through a tube by using double helical tape inserts was investigated experimentally in the present work. The effects of insertion of the helical tape turbulators with different helix angles (9°, 15°, 21° and 28°) on heat transfer and pressure drop in the tube for Reynolds number ranging from 22,000 to 51,000 were examined. Experimental results showed that the heat transfer and thermal performance of the inserted tube were significantly increased compared to those of the plain tube. The study showed the Nussselt number, friction factor as well as thermal enhancement efficiency were increased with decreasing helix angles under the same operating conditions. The results indicated that the Nusselt number and friction factor were increased up to 305% and 170%, respectively, than those over the plain tube while the maximum thermal performance was found to be 215% for using the double helical tape insert with helix angle 9° at high Reynolds number. Furthermore, correlations of the Nusselt number and friction factor were developed in terms of the helix angle (α), Reynolds number (Re) and Prandtl number (Pr) based on the experimental data.