Research on heat transfer and pressure drop performance of plain plate fin-and-tube oil cooler

Abstract

According to the characteristics of large number of sets and large size differences in the plain plate fin-and-tube oil cooler, a set of heat exchange units including a baffle is selected as the characteristic structure, and the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics are numerically simulated and experimentally studied. The simulation results are compared with the experimental data to study the effects of changes in shell-side flow rate and plate-fin spacing on the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in the oil cooler. The results indicate that as the shell-side flow rate increases, both the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop increase. When the shell-side flow rate is 1.6 m3/h, the heat transfer effect is the best; when the plate-fin spacing is 4 mm, the channel flow distribution is the most uniform, therefor the heat transfer effect is the best. The relationship curve between shell-side Nu number and Re number of the plain plate fin-and-tube oil cooler is obtained by fitting. It is used to explore the flow field and heat transfer characteristics inside the multi-layer small-spacing plain fin structure, which is instructive for optimizing its internal structure.