Experimental Research and Simulation of Fin and Tube Heat Exchanger
Sabina Paulauskaitė (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania)
Violeta Misevičiūtė (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania)
Abstract
The paper provides the results of experimental and theoretical test of a wavy fin and tube heat exchanger used to cool air in a ventilation system when the wavy fin of the heat exchanger is dry and wet. The experimental tests, performed in the range of 1000<Re<4500 of the Reynolds number applying LMTD-LMED methodology, determined the dependency of the heat transfer coefficient on the supplied air flow rate with the varying geometry of the heat exchanger (the number of tube rows, the distance between fins, the thickness of the fin and the diameter of the tube). The experimental tests were performed on 9 heat exchangers in heating and 6 heat exchangers in cooling mode. After processing the results of the experimental tests, empirical equation defining the characteristics of the heat transfer coefficient of all heat exchangers were derived. The maximum heat transfer coefficient deviation is 11.6 percent. The correction factor of the wet fin (Lewis number) depending on the number of Reynolds, which ranges from 0.75 to 1.1 also is determined. Maximum capacity deviation equals 3.7 percent. The obtained equations can only be applied to a certain group of heat exchangers (with the same shape of fins or the distance between the tubes). The results of the experimental test and simulation with ANSYS program are compared and the heat transfer coefficients vary from 6.5 to 11.4 percent.
Keyword(s): ANSYS; wavy fin; simulation; fin and tube heat exchanger; dry surface of the fin; heat transfer coefficient; wet surface of the fin.
DOI: 10.3846/mla.2017.1055
Science – Future of Lithuania / Mokslas – Lietuvos Ateitis ISSN 2029-2341, eISSN 2029-2252
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License.