Wet surface heat transfer and pressure drop of aluminum parallel flow heat exchangers at different inclination angles

Abstract

The effect of inclination angle on the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of brazed aluminum heat exchangers was experimentally investigated under wet conditions. Three samples having different fin pitches (1.25, 1.5 and 2.0 mm) were tested. Results show that heat transfer coefficients are not affected by the inclination angle. However, friction factors increase as the inclination angle increases with negligible difference between the forward and backward inclination. The effect of fin pitch on the heat transfer coefficient and on the pressure drop is also discussed. Comparison of the dry and wet surface heat transfer coefficients reveals that dry surface heat transfer coefficients are significantly larger than wet surface heat transfer coefficients. Possible explanation is provided by considering the condensate drainage pattern. The data are also compared with the existing correlation.