Heat transfer enhancement by a circumferentially non-uniform array of longitudinal fins assembled inside a circular channel

•A new non-uniform configuration of internal fins is proposed.•The effectiveness of the novel design over common structures is investigated.•The effectiveness of the design is observed, and the physics behind it is explained.•The pumping power range in which the configuration is useful is observed.•...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of heat and mass transfer 2020-09, Vol.158, p.120020, Article 120020
Main Authors: Hajmohammadi, M.R., Doustahadi, A., Ahmadian-Elmi, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arrays
Channels
Diameters
Fins
Heat exchanger
Heat exchangers
Heat transfer
Heat transfer enhancement
Internal fins
Laminar flow
Laminar heat transfer
Longitudinal fins
Numerical models
Pressure drop
Pumping
Pumping power
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Summary:•A new non-uniform configuration of internal fins is proposed.•The effectiveness of the novel design over common structures is investigated.•The effectiveness of the design is observed, and the physics behind it is explained.•The pumping power range in which the configuration is useful is observed.•The effect of geometrical parameters on heat transfer enhancement is studied. Circular channels are one of the most common tools used in several types of heat exchangers. When available energy for supplying pumping power is a constraint, improving the design of heat transfer elements, such as longitudinal fins, becomes significant. In this paper, a new array of fins is introduced, in which the longitudinal fins are assembled non-uniformly along the internal circumference of a circular channel. A numerical model is used for calculating the pressure drop, required pumping power, and heat transfer of finned-tube laminar flow. Three cases including smooth channels, uniformly finned channels, and non-uniformly finned channels, sharing the same pumping power, are compared to each other according to their heat transfer capacity. It is proved that the proposed non-uniform configuration of fins improves the thermal performance up to 46% in comparison with smooth channels and traditional uniformly finned channels, depending on the magnitude of the required pumping power. Finally, the effects of geometrical parameters such as the number of fins, relative fin heights, and length to diameter ratios on the thermal performance of the fins' assembly are reported.
ISSN:0017-9310
1879-2189
DOI:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2020.120020