Study on Heat Transfer and Flow Behavior of Mini-Tube Bank for Micro Heat Exchanger

Abstract

Heat transfer and flow behavior in the mini tube bank were examined. The tube bank was composed of 1 mm diameter nickel wires and a 30 mm wide × 15 mm high flow channel. Experiments were performed in the range of the rod Re = 5 ~ 430 by using water. Numerical analyses were also conducted with the commercial CFD code STAR-CD. The heat transfer coefficient after the second row was lower than first row's one. The flow visualization results indicated that the wake region was stagnant when the Reynolds number was low. This flow stagnation seemed to cause the heat transfer coefficient deterioration in the tube bank. As the Reynolds number was increased, the flow state in the wake region gradually changed from the stagnant condition to the more disturbed condition. The deeper the row was, the more disturbed the wake was. The heat transfer coefficient began to recover to the first row value at certain Reynolds number. The recovery started from the most downstream row; fifth row in the present experiments and was propagated to the upstream row. The Reynolds number when the recovery was initiated decreased as the spacing between rods was increased. The analytical results of the STAR-CD code supported the experimental results. When the wake was stagnant, the heat transfer coefficient distribution around the rear rod, i.e. the rod in the wake, showed a large dip in the front region of the rod. It was considered that this dip caused the heat transfer coefficient decrease after the second row observed in the experiments.