Sei sulla pagina 1di 11

International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849 859

www.elsevier.com/locate/ichmt

Heat transfer behaviors in a tube with combined conical-ring and


twisted-tape insert
P. Promvonge a,, S. Eiamsa-ard b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok 10530, Thailand

Available online 21 May 2007

Abstract

Heat transfer, friction factor and enhancement efficiency characteristics in a circular tube fitted with conical-ring turbulators and
a twisted-tape swirl generator have been investigated experimentally. The heat transfer test section is heated electrically imposing
axially and circumferentially constant wall heat flux boundary conditions. In the experiments, two enhancement heat transfer
devices are applied. One is the conical-ring used as a turbulator and placed in the tested tube and the other is the twisted-tape swirl
generator placed at the core of the conical-ring. Air as the tested fluid is passed both enhancement devices in a Reynolds number
range of 6000 to 26,000. Two twisted-tapes of different twist ratios, Y = 3.75, and 7.5, are introduced in each run. The experimental
results reveal that the tube fitted with the conical-ring and twisted-tape provides Nusselt number values of around 4 to 10% and
enhancement efficiency of 4 to 8% higher than that with the conical-ring alone. A maximum heat transfer rate of 367% and
enhancement efficiency of around 1.96 is found for using the conical-ring and the twisted-tape of Y = 3.75. For all the devices used,
the enhancement efficiency tends to decrease with the rise of Reynolds number and to be nearly uniform for Reynolds number over
16,000. In addition, correlations for Nusselt number, friction factor and performance evaluation criteria to assess the real benefits in
using the turbulator and swirl generator of the enhanced tube are determined.
2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Heat transfer enhancement; Friction factor; Heat exchanger; Twisted-tape; Conical-ring turbulator; Turbulent/reverse flow

1. Introduction

Heat exchanger is a device facilitating heat transfer between two or more fluids. It is extensively used in several
industries, such as thermal power plants, chemical processing plants, air conditioning equipment, refrigerators, radiator
for space vehicles as well as automobiles etc. Industrial heat transfer equipments generally are operated in turbulent/
swirl flow conditions where their performance in terms of energy transfer rate is high, compared with laminar flow by
virtue of the high degree of turbulence in turbulence/swirl flow. Also in turbulent flow, a high intensity of turbulence
will enhance the rapid mixing of fluid properties, and the mixing can help to increase the effective area of heat transfer,
leading to higher heat transfer rates. Heat exchangers have been classified in many different ways. The design of heat

Communicated by Dr. W.J. Minkowycz.
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kppongje@kmitl.ac.th (P. Promvonge).

0735-1933/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2007.03.019
850 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859

Nomenclature
A Heat transfer surface area, m2
Cp Specific heat of air, J/kg K
D Inner diameter of test tube, m
f Friction factor
h Average heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K
I Current, amp
k Thermal conductivity, W/m K
L Length of test section, m
l Length of conical-ring, m
m Mass flow rate, kg/s
Nu Average Nusselt number
P Pressure drop, Pa
Pr Prandtl number
Q Heat transfer rate, W
Re Reynolds number
t Thickness of twisted-tape, m
T Temperature, C
U Mean axial velocity, m/s
V Voltage, volt
V Volumetric flow rate, m3/s
y Length of twist (based on 180), m
Y Twist ratio, (y/w)
w Tape width, m
Kinematic viscosity, m2/s
Density of the fluid, kg/m3

Subscripts
a Air
b Bulk
conv Convection
i Inlet
o Outlet
p Plain tube
pp Pumping power
t Turbulator
w Wall

exchanger is complicated, requiring a consideration of different modes of heat exchanger, pressure drop, sizing, long
term performance estimation as well as economic aspect. A heat transfer enhancement concept in which swirl was
introduced in the flow was proposed by Kreith and Margolis [1]. Gambill and Bundy [2] claimed that twisted-tapes are
also effective in high Prandtl number fluids because for such fluids it provides high heat transfer rate with less pressure
drop compared with other inserts. Zozulya and Shkuratov [3] reported that a smooth decrease in pitch of a twisted-tape
results in an improved heat transfer rate. Van Rooyen and Kroeger [4] found that, for laminar swirl flow heat transfer in
a smooth tube subjected to axially constant tube wall temperature, the heat transfer rate increases considerably for a
moderate increase in pressure drop. Bergles [5] considered all these effects and developed laminar flow correlations for
the friction factor and Nusselt number, including the swirl parameter, which defines the interaction between viscous,
convective inertia and centrifugal forces. Saha and Dutta [6] observed that on the basis of constant pumping power and
P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859 851

constant heat flux boundary condition short length twisted-tapes are found to perform better than full length twisted-
tapes for tighter twists. Al-Fahed and Chakroun [7] found that there is an optimum tape width, depending on the twist
ratio and Reynolds number, for the best thermo-hydraulic characteristics and the tight-fit tape yields a better
performance over the loose-fit one. Suresh et al. [8] presented the thermo-hydraulic performance of twisted-tape inserts
in a large hydraulic diameter annulus. Manglik and Bergles [9] investigated numerically the laminar convection heat
transfer in circular-segment, uniform wall temperature ducts with a straight tape insert.
The reverse flow with high turbulent flow can improve convection of the tube wall by increasing the effective axial
Reynolds number, decreasing the cross-section flow area, and increasing the mean velocity and temperature gradient.
Most of the early work was concerned with the effect of conical turbulator on turbulent flow conditions. Yakut et al.
[10] and Yakut and Sahin [11] studied the effect of conical-ring turbulators on the turbulent heat transfer, pressure
drop and flow-induced vibrations. Durmus [12] investigated the effect of cutting out conical turbulators on heat
transfer with different types of turbulators and different conical-angles. Ayhan et al. [13] provided the effect of
truncated hollow cone inserts on heat transfer and friction in a tube. Eiamsa-ard and Promvonge [14] reported the
effect of the V-nozzle turbulators on heat transfer and flow friction in a tube. Recently, Promvonge and Eiamsa-ard
[15] studied the effect of combined conical-nozzle and snail entrance on heat transfer and friction characteristics in a
uniform heat flux tube and reported a substantial increase in heat transfer obtained from using both enhancement
devices.
The aim of this report is to investigate the combined effect of conical-ring turbulators together with a twisted-tape
containing in a uniform heat flux tube on heat transfer, flow friction, and enhancement efficiency characteristics using
air as the tested fluid. Influence of the twist ratio (Y = 3.75, and 7.5) on heat transfer, friction and enhancement
efficiency is also studied for Reynolds number ranging from 6000 to 26,000.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of experimental apparatus.


852 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859

2. Experimental description

2.1. Experimental set-up

A schematic diagram of the experimental setup is given in Fig. 1. The experimental setup consisted of a 7.5 kW
blower, orifice meter to measure the flow rate, and the heat transfer test section. In the eclectically heated section, a
copper tube having an inside diameter of (D) 48 mm, an outside diameter of (Do) 51 mm, and length of L = 1250 mm
is wound with electrical heating wire covered with ceramic beads as depicted in Fig. 2. The terminals of the wire are
connected to a variac AC transformer, which is used to vary the voltage of the AC current passing through the heating
coil and by keeping the current less than 3 A. The outer surface of the test tube was well insulated to minimize
convective heat loss to surroundings, and necessary precautions were taken to prevent leakages from the system. The
inner and outer temperatures of the bulk air were measured at certain points with a multi-channel temperature
measurement unit in conjunction with the thermocouple type K as can be seen in Fig. 2. Fifteen thermocouples were
tapped on the local wall of the tube and the thermocouples were placed round the tube to measure the circumferential
temperature variation, which was found to be negligible. The mean local wall temperature was determined by means
of calculations based on the reading of type-K thermocouples. In the experiments, the conical-ring turbulators and
twisted-tape used in the present are depicted in Fig. 2. The conical-ring was made of aluminum with 48 mm (1.0D) in
length and its small end diameter (d) was 24 mm (0.5D), with a 2 mm uniform thickness. The twisted-tapes made of
steel strip with twist ratios of Y = y/w = 3.75, and 7.5, were used for this investigation. The twist ratio is defined herein
as the ratio of the pitch or one twist length (y, 180) to the tape width (w).

Fig. 2. Test tube fitted with conical-ring turbulator and twisted-tape insert.
P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859 853

2.1.1. Experimental procedure


In the apparatus setting above, the inlet bulk air at 25 C from a 7.5 kW blower was directed through an orifice
meter and passed to a heat transfer test section. The air flow rate was measured by the orifice meter, built according
to ASME standard [16]. Manometric fluid was used in U-tube manometers with specific gravity (SG) of 0.826 to
ensure reasonably accurate measurement of the low pressure drop encountered at low Reynolds numbers. The
volumetric air flow rates from the blower were adjusted by varying motor speed through the inverter, situated before
the inlet of the test tube. During the experiments, the bulk air was heated by an adjustable electrical heater wrapping
along the test section. Both the inlet and outlet temperatures of the bulk air from the tube were measured by multi-
channel type-K thermocouples, calibrated within 0.2 C deviation by thermostat before being used. It was
necessary to measure the temperature at 15 stations altogether on the outer surface of the heat transfer test pipe for
finding out the average Nusselt number. For each test run, it was necessary to record the data of temperature,
volumetric flow rate and pressure drop of the bulk air at steady state conditions in which the inlet air temperature
was maintained at 25 C. The various characteristics of the flow, the Nusselt number, and the Reynolds numbers
were based on the average of tube wall temperature and outlet air temperature. The local wall temperature, inlet and
outlet air temperature, the pressure drops across the test section and air flow velocity were measured for heat
transfer of the heated tube. The average Nusselt numbers were calculated and discussed where all fluid properties
were determined at the overall bulk mean temperature. In order to quantify the uncertainties, the reduced data
obtained experimentally were determined. The uncertainty in the data calculation was based on Ref. [17]. The
maximum uncertainties of non-dimensional parameters are 5% for Reynolds number, 10% for Nusselt number
and 15% for friction. The uncertainty in the axial velocity measurement was estimated to be less than 7%, and
pressure has a corresponding estimated uncertainty of 5%, whereas the uncertainty in temperature measurement at
the tube wall was about 0.5%. The experimental results were reproducible within these uncertainty ranges.

3. Data reduction

In the present work, the air used as a working fluid is flowed through a uniform heat flux and insulated tube. The
steady state of the heat transfer rate is assumed to be equal to the heat loss from the test section which can be expressed
as:
Qa Qconv 1

where
Qa mCp;a To  Ti VI: 2
The heat supplied by electrical winding in the test tube is found to be 5 to 8% higher than the heat absorbed by the
fluid for thermal equilibrium test due to convection and radiation heat losses from the test section to surroundings.
Thus, only the heat transfer rate absorbed by the fluid is taken for internal convective heat transfer coefficient
calculation.
The convection heat transfer rate from the test section can be written by:

Qconv hAT w  Tb 3

where
Tb To Ti =2 4

and
 p;a To  Ti =AT w  Tb
h mC 5

X
T w Tw =15 6

in which Tw is the local surface temperature at the outer wall of the inner tube. The average surface temperature Tw is
calculated from 15 points of Tw lined between the inlet and the exit of the test tube.
854 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859

Fig. 3. Verification of Nusselt number of plain tube.

The average Nusselt number, Nu is estimated as follows:


Nu hD=k: 7

The Reynolds number is given by


Re UD=v: 8

Friction factor, f can be written as:


DP
f 9
L=DqU 2 =2
in which U is mean air velocity of the tube. All of thermo-physical properties of the air are determined at the overall
bulk air temperature from Eq. (4).
For a constant pumping power
 
V DPp V DPt 10

and the relationship between friction and Reynolds number can be expressed as:

f Re3 p f Re3 t : 11

The enhancement efficiency () at constant pumping power is defined as the ratio of the heat transfer coefficient of
the tube with enhancement devices to that of the plain tube which can be written as follows:
ht
g j : 12
hp pp

4. Results and discussion

In the following sections, results of the effects of conical-ring combined with twisted-tape (Y = 3.75, and 7.5) on heat transfer
rate and flow friction are presented. Verification of the heat transfer and friction of the plain tube is performed by comparing with
the previous correlations under a similar condition as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. The present plain tube data is found to
P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859 855

Fig. 4. Verification of friction factor of plain tube.

be in good agreement with previous correlations of Gnielinski and Petukhov from the open literature [18] for both the Nusselt
number and the friction factor within 10% deviation. With the help of experimental data of the tube, the following empirical
correlations of Nusselt number and friction factor are derived for the plain tube and presented in Eqs. (13) and (14) respectively.
They are found to represent the experimental data within 5 to 10% error limits.

Nu 0:03277 Re0:742 Pr0:4 13

f 0:6165 Re0:317 : 14

Fig. 5 shows the variation of Reynolds number with the Nusselt number for various twist ratios. It is seen that the Nusselt number
increases with increasing Reynolds number and reduction of twist ratio. Both devices provide a considerable increase in heat transfer rate
over the plain tube. A close examination reveals that the heat transfer rate from using both conical-ring and twisted-tape is higher than that

Fig. 5. Nusselt number against Reynolds number.


856 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859

Fig. 6. Friction factor versus Reynolds number.

from using conical-ring alone. In general, the conical-ring turbulator is employed to create a recirculating flow near the wall regime
leading to redeveloping of thermal boundary layer while the twisted-tape swirl generator to generate a swirl flow about the core region. A
combination of the conical-ring and the twisted-tape is used as a means of enhancing heat transfer by both of reverse flow and swirl flow
in a circular tube. Heat transfer is increased remarkably if 1) the conical-ring is applied in conjunction with the twisted-tape, and 2) the
twisted-tape ratio is small (Y = 3.75) to produce a higher swirl flow. These phenomena result in a better mixing of the flow between the
wall and the core regions. The average Nusselt numbers for employing the conical-ring together with the twisted-tape for Y = 3.75, and
7.5, respectively, are found to be 10% and 4% over that for using the conical-ring alone or to be about 367% and 350% over the plain tube.
The effect of using the conical-ring turbulator in common with the twisted-tape on the flow friction is presented in Fig. 6. In the
figure, the average increase in friction factor of employing the conical-ring and the twisted-tape is about 145 times above the plain
tube. The pressure loss mainly comes from 1) higher friction of increasing surface area because of the presence of the conical-rings
and 2) the dissipation of the dynamical pressure of the air due to high viscous losses near the pipe wall, and to the extra forces exerted
by rotation or swirling flow. The increase in friction factor of both the conical-ring and the twisted-tape is up to 512% over that of

Fig. 7. Predicted Nusselt number against experimental Nusselt number.


P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859 857

Fig. 8. Predicted friction factor versus experimental friction factor.

the conical-rings alone. The difference of friction factors from using different twist ratios is small. The trends of the friction factor for
each case are similar and gradually decrease with increasing Reynolds number. The maximum friction factor is found for using the
ring and the tape with Y = 3.75.
Based on the present data of the tube fitted with the conical-ring and twisted-tape, the heat transfer coefficient and pressure loss
are proposed in terms of Nusselt number and friction factor. The correlations are derived in the form of:

Nu 1:356 Re0:433 Pr0:4 d=D1:23 Y 0:053 15

f 24:87 Re0:43 d=D3:99 Y 0:16 : 16

Comparisons between the Nusselt number and friction factor values obtained from the present work and those calculated from the
proposed correlations, Eqs. (15) and (16), are shown in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. It is seen that the majority of the data falls within
10% of the presented correlations for both the Nusselt number and the friction factor.

Fig. 9. Variation of enhancement efficiency with Reynolds number.


858 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859

The use of the present correlations of Nusselt number and friction factor together with Eq. (12) leads to the enhancement
efficiency correlations as shown in Eqs. (17) and (18) for conical-ring alone and conical-ring and twisted-tape, respectively. The
variation between the enhancement efficiency and Reynolds numbers is depicted in Fig. 9. In the figure, it is worth noting that the
enhancement efficiency reduces with the increase of Reynolds numbers and the decrease of twist ratio. The use of both enhancement
devices provides slightly higher enhancement efficiency than that of conical-ring alone. The enhancement efficiency tends to reduce
to unity at high Reynolds number for both cases. This indicates that the conical-ring in conjunction with the twisted-tape is not
feasible in terms of energy saving at higher Reynolds number.
For conical-ring alone,

g 11:46 Re0:255 d=D0:126 : 17

For conical-ring and twisted-tape,

g 14:9 Re0:277 d=D0:129 Y 0:01 : 18

5. Conclusions

The experimental results of heat transfer and friction characteristics in a uniform heat flux tube with combined
conical-ring and twisted-tape insert have been reported. It is found that the smaller twist ratio is, the larger the heat
transfer and friction factor for all Reynolds numbers. The average heat transfer rates from using both the conical-ring
and twisted-tape for Y = 3.75, and 7.5, respectively, are found to be 367% and 350% over the plain tube. However, the
friction factor from using both devices also increases considerably.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) for the financial support.

References

[1] F. Kreith, D. Margolis, Heat transfer and friction in turbulent vortex flow, Applied Science Resource 8 (1959) 457473.
[2] W.R. Gambill, R.D. Bundy, High flux heat transfer characteristics in turbulent swirl flow subjected to large transverse temperature gradients,
AIChE Journal 91 (1963) 5559.
[3] N.V. Zozulya, I.Y. Shkuratov, Effect of length of twisted-tape turbulence promoter and its initial twisting pitch on augmentation of heat transfer
inside a tube, Heat Transfer. Soviet Research 6 (1974) 98100.
[4] R.S. Van Rooyen, D.G. Kroeger, Laminar flow heat transfer in internally finned tubes with twisted-tape inserts, Journal Illum. Engineering
Science, National Research Council of Canada, Aug 711 1978, p. 2.
[5] A.E. Bergles, in: W.M. Rosennow, et al., (Eds.), Techniques to Augment Heat Transfer Reading: Handbook of Heat Transfer Applications,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1985, Chapter 3.
[6] S.K. Saha, A. Dutta, Thermo-hydraulic study of laminar swirl flow through a circular tube fitted with twisted-tapes, Transaction ASME Journal
Heat Transfer 2 (2001) 417421.
[7] S. AI-Fahed, W. Chakroun, Effect of tube tape clearance on heat transfer for fully developed turbulent flow in a horizontal isothermal tube,
International Journal Heat and Fluid Flow 17 (2) (1996) 173178.
[8] K.P. Suresh, P. Mahanta, A. Dewan, Study of heat transfer and pressure drop in a large hydraulic diameter annulus, The 17th National Heat and
Mass Transfer Conference and 6th ISHMT/ASME, Heat and Mass Transfer Conference, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research,
Kalpakkam, India, 2004, pp. 6266.
[9] R.M. Manglik, A.E. Bergles, Fully developed laminar heat transfer in circular-segment ducts with uniform wall temperature, Numerical Heat
Transfer. Part A, Applications 26 (1994) 499519.
[10] K. Yakut, B. Sahin, S. Canbazoglu, Performance and flow-induced vibration characteristics for conical-ring turbulators, Applied Energy 79
(2004) 6576.
[11] K. Yakut, B. Sahin, Flow-induced vibration analysis of conical-rings used of heat transfer enhancement in heat exchanger, Applied Energy 78
(2004) 273288.
[12] A. Durmus, Heat transfer and energy loss in cut out conical turbulators, Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 785796.
[13] T. Ayhan, Y. Azak, C. Demirtas, B. Ayhan, Numerical and experimental investigation of enhancement of turbulent flow heat transfer in tubes by
means of truncated hollow cone inserts, Heat Transfer Enhancement of Heat Exchangers, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999, pp. 347356.
[14] S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge, Experimental investigation of heat transfer and friction characteristics in a circular tube fitted with V-nozzle
turbulators, International Communication Heat and Mass Transfer 33 (2006) 591600.
P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 849859 859

[15] P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard, Heat transfer enhancement in a tube with combined conical-nozzle inserts and swirl generator, Energy Conversion
and Management 47 (2006) 28672882.
[16] ASME Standard, Measurement of Fluid Flow in Pipes Using Orifice, Nozzle and Venture, ASME MFC-3M-1984, United Engineering Center
345 East 47th Street, New York, 1984.
[17] ANSI/ASME, Measurement Uncertainty, PTC 19, 1-1985. Part I, 1986.
[18] F. Incropera, P.D. Dewitt, Introduction to Heat Transfer, 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1996.

Potrebbero piacerti anche