Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Analysis in Plate-Fin and Tube Heat Exchangers with Different Shaped Vortex Generators
K. Thirumalai Kannan1, B. Senthil Kumar2

1K.Thirumalai Kannan, Mechanical Engg.SNS college of Technology,Coimbatore, India.
2B.Senthil Kumar, Mechanical Engg.SNS college of Technology,Coimbatore,,India.

Manuscript received on February 15, 2012. | Revised Manuscript received on February 20, 2012. | Manuscript published on March 05, 2012. | PP: 351-356 | Volume-2 Issue-1, March 2012. | Retrieval Number: A0451022112/2012©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: Numerical analyses were carried out to study the heat transfer and flow in the plate-fin and tube heat exchangers with different shaped vortex generators mounted behind the tubes. The effects of different span angles a (α = 30°, 45° and 60°) are investigated in detail for the Reynolds number ranging from 500 to 2500. Numerical simulation was performed by computational fluid dynamics of the heat transfer and fluid flow. The results indicated that the triangle shaped winglet is able to generate longitudinal vortices and improve the heat transfer performance in the wake regions. The case of α = 45° provides the best heat transfer augmentation than rectangle shape winglet generator in case of inline tubes. Common flow up configuration causes significant separation delay, reduces form drag, and removes the zone of poor heat transfer from the near wake of the tubes.

Keywords: Vortex generator; Common flow up; Heat transfer enhancement; Plate-fin and tube heat exchanger