Influences of the wavy surface inserted in the middle of a circular tube heat exchanger on thermal performance

Abstract

Numerical investigations on flow topology, heat transfer behavior and performance evaluation in a circular tube inserted with various configurations of wavy surfaces, Inclined wavy surface (IWS), V-downstream wavy surface (VDWS), V-Upstream wavy surface (VUWS) are presented. The effects of the flow attack angles; 20°, 30°, 45° and 60° are studied for the Reynolds numbers, Re = 100-2000. The numerical results are compared with the smooth circular tube with no wavy surface and the previous works. It is found that the IWS, VDWS and VUWS can produce longitudinal vortex flow and impinging jet of the fluid flow like inclined baffle, V-downstream baffle and V-Upstream baffle, respectively, but give lower friction loss. The flow phenomena created by the wavy surfaces help to augment the heat transfer rate and thermal performance in the test tube. In the range studied, the order of enhancement for heat transfer rate is around 1.40-3.75, 1.60-6.25 and 1.30-5.80 times higher than the smooth tube for IWS, VDWS and VUWS, respectively. Moreover, the maximum thermal performance, presented in terms of the Thermal enhancement factor (TEF), is found to be about 1.60, 2.40 and 2.10, respectively, for IWS, VUWS and VDWS.