Numerical study of hydrodynamics and thermal characteristics of heat exchangers with delta winglets

Abstract

The comprehensive performance of heat exchangers is represented by the maximum thermal transfer, the minimum pressure loss, and the smallest pumping power. In recent years, the application of longitudinal vortex generators is developed as an effective technique and important research topic, which could increase the heat transfer enhancement of compact heat exchangers. A 3-D CFD numerical simulation is successfully carried out on thermohydraulic characteristics of the fin-and-tube compact heat exchanger with new types of vortex generators. The effects of six different arrangement of delta winglets are studied, which are front-up-rear-down, front-down-rear-up, common-flow-up, and common-flow-down. In addition, there are also different direction of hole position in the same delta winglets arrangement. The investigation of thermal-hydraulic performance is conducted for Reynolds number in the range of 204-2034. The overall and local performance comparisons among the fin with delta winglets and the wavy fin are performed. Then, the comprehensive performance evaluation diagram was adopted to analyze the combined index point of thermal and flow. This study shows that the flow distinction between different fins has a profound influence on the thermal-hydrodynamic performance. The results reveal that the fin with delta winglets can considerably strengthen the thermal efficiency with a moderate pressure loss penalty. The computational results indicate that the average j-factor for the fin with delta wing-lets can be increased up to 41.9% over the baseline case and the corresponding f-factor decreased up to 19.5%. The combination property of front-up-rear-down are better the others at lower Reynolds number, and that of front-down-rear-up are better at higher Reynolds number. Compare with the traditional arrangement (common-flow-up and common-flow-down), The newly designed fin has great effectiveness and uniform performance in the local region.