Modeling Fluid Flow of Vipertex Enhanced Heat Transfer Tubes

Abstract

Abstract Conservation of energy plays an important role in the design of today’s process systems. A wide variety of industrial processes involve the transfer of heat energy and many of those processes employ old technology. These processes would be candidates for a redesign that would achieve improved process performance. Utilization of an enhanced heat transfer surface is an effective method to be utilized in order to develop high performance thermal systems. Enhanced heat transfer surfaces can be produced through material surface modifications that result in: an increase in fluid turbulence, generation of secondary fluid flow patterns, disruption of the thermal boundary layer and additional heat transfer surface area. Modeling single phase fluid flow near an enhanced heat transfer surface is the subject of this study. Criteria include the maximization of the overall heat transfer coefficient; minimization of pumping power; and minimization of the rate of surface fouling. Through the use of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods, Vipertex™ was able to develop an optimized, three dimensional, enhanced heat transfer surface. This study details the development of an enhanced surface and its effects on the overall heat transfer, fouling and pumping requirements. The Vipertex 2EHT enhanced heat transfer surface was optimized, then manufactured into tubes and evaluated experimentally to validate its design. Original designs of Vipertex enhanced heat transfer surfaces showed average heat transfer performance gains of approximately 30 percent. Optimized Vipertex EHT enhanced surfaces, are able to increase heat transfer for some flow conditions by more than 200%. Designs that incorporate the Vipertex EHT enhanced surfaces are able to increase heat transfer, minimize total costs and conserve energy. These enhanced surfaces provide an important method to advance the design of heat exchange devices.