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Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905

Numerical study of turbulent forced convection

in coiled flow inverter
Monisha Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam ∗
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
Received 21 July 2006; received in revised form 8 February 2007; accepted 9 February 2007
Available online 3 March 2007

Abstract
A numerical study is done to investigate turbulent forced convection in a new device of coiled flow inverter. The proposed device works on
the technique based on flow inversion by changing the direction of centrifugal force in helically coiled tubes thus enabling rotation of the plane
of vortex. The objective of the present study is to characterize the flow development and temperature fields in coiled flow inverter (CFI) under
turbulent flow for the range of 10,000 < NRe < 30,000. The flow pattern obtained for the curved tubes are in agreement to those observed by the
previous investigators [1,2]. However, a slight rotation of contours was observed in case of helical coil with finite pitch. Similar rotation of contours
was found even with fluids of different Prandtl number (0.7 ≤ NPr ≤ 150) in helical coil with constant pitch. The study was also carried out for
different fluids (air, water, kerosene and ethylene glycol). The coiled flow inverter shows 4–13% enhancement in the heat transfer as compared
to the straight helical coil while relative pressure drop is 2–9%. The gain in heat transfer in coiled flow inverter for turbulent flow condition as
compared to the straight tube for same flow rate and boundary conditions is 35–45% while the increase in pressure drop is 29–30%.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Coiled flow inverter; Computation; Heat transfer; Helical coil; Hydrodynamics; Turbulence

1. Introduction
Coiled tubes are commonly used in industries for heating and
cooling of process fluids due to their higher heat, mass transfer
rate and more transfer area per unit volume of space as compared
to straight tube. Dean [3,4] was the first to report the analytical
expression for flow fields to investigate the pressure driven lam-
inar flow in a curved pipe with circular cross section. Since then
a number of studies [5–23] has been carried out experimentally
and numerically to demonstrate the performance of the coiled
tubes over straight tubes. The extensive reviews of fluid flow
and heat transfer in helical pipes were reported by Berger et al.
[6] and Shah and Joshi [7]. Though most flows relevant to the
process industry are turbulent but the number of investigations
are limited. Table 1 shows the various studies carried out under
turbulent fluid flow in curved tubes [1,2,8–18,21–23].
Heat transfer in the coiled tubes can be further enhanced by
inserting some perturbation in the curved path. Literature shows
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 11 2659 1020/6178; fax: +91 11 2659 1020.
E-mail address: nigamkdp@gmail.com (K.D.P. Nigam).
that attempts have been made for enhancement of heat transfer
by modifying the regular helical coil. Chaotic coil was produced
by alternatively turning the axis of curved tubes with respect to
neighboring one in a periodic manner. Table 2 shows works
done by various researchers who have achieved enhanced heat
transfer by chaotic advection [24–30]. Saxena and Nigam [30]
introduced a new concept by inverting the axis of the helical
coil to 90◦ . Multiple flow inversions were achieved at low flow
rates by changing the direction of centrifugal force in helically
coiled tubes. Under the conditions of negligible and significant
molecular diffusion, a significant narrowing of residence time
distribution (RTD) in laminar flow condition (10 < NRe < 200),
was observed in this device by Saxena and Nigam [30]. The RTD
of a chemical reactor or vessel is a description of the time that
different fluid elements spend inside the reactor. They reported
that the most effective narrowing of RTD was found for equally
spaced 90◦ bends down the length of the tube. A 20-fold reduc-
tion in dispersion number as compared to a straight helical coil
was found for the device having 57 bends. Dispersion number
(= D/uL) is a dimensionless group that measures the extent of
axial dispersion. If dispersion number is negligible that means
the flow tends to become as a plug flow. Hence, the experimental

0255-2701/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cep.2007.02.026
894 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905

Table 1
Published studies for heat transfer for turbulent flow in curved tubes
Author Method Range of parameters Remarks

1/λ NRe NPr

Jeschke [8] Experimental 6.1, 18.2 150,000 0.7 (NNu )(NPr )−0.4 = 0.045(1 + (3.54/λ))(NRe )0.76 . The work
was for a limited range of parameters

−1/4 √
White [9] Experimental 15.15, 50, 2050 15,000–100,000 7 fc = 0.08NRe + 0.012/ λ. Heat transfer coefficient may be
predicted from fluid friction data

Kirpikov [10] Experimental 10, 13,18 10,000–45,000 7 (NNu )(NPr )−0.4 = 0.0456(NRe )0.85 (1/λ)0.21 . Heat transfer
coefficient was obtained using the wall to bulk temperature
difference

Ito [21] Experimental 16.4, 40,100, 250, 2,000–400,000 7 Proposed an empirical equation for the critical Reynolds
648 number, NRe cr = 2 × 104 (λ)0.32

Seban and Experimental 17, 104 6,000–65,000 2.9–657 (NNu )(NPr )−0.4 = 0.023(NRe )0.85 (1/λ)0.1 . For turbulent flow,
McLaughlin [11] the results for heat transfer coefficient were simplified and
average heat transfer coefficients for the periphery was
predicted more accurately using friction factors for curved tubes

Rogers and Mayhew Experimental 10.8, 13.3, 20.12 3,000–50,000 7 (NNu ) = 0.021(NRe )0.85 (NPr )0.4 (λ)0.1 . Non-isothermal friction
[12] factors and heat transfer coefficients were estimated and were
recommended for design purposes

2/3
Mori and Nakayama Theoretical 18.7, 40 10,000–200,000 1–∝ For NPr ≈ 1, NNu = (NPr /26.2(NPr −
[13,14] and 4/5 1/5
0.074))NRe (λ)1/10 × [1 + (0.098/{NRe (λ)2 } )]; for NPr >
experimental −0.4
1, NNu NPr =
5/6 1/6
(1/41.0)NRe (λ)1/12 × [1 + (0.061/{NRe (λ)2.5 } )]. In the
first order approximation, heat transfer in a curved pipe doesn’t
differ for uniform wall temperature or uniform heat flux, in both
laminar and turbulent regions

Schmidt [15] Experimental – – The empirical formula presented is as following: NNufd /NNus =
1.0 + 3.6(1 − λ)λ0.8 , where NNus = 0.023NRe 0.8 0.4
NPr

Shchukin [16] Experimental 6.2–104 NRec < NRe < 67,000 7 NNu = 0.0266[NRe
0.85 0.15
/λ + 0.225λ1.55 ]NPr
0.4

Yamamoto et al. [22] Experimental 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 500–20,000 7 As torsion parameter increases at fixed curvature and Reynolds
number, the friction factor deviates from that of a toroidal tube
and decreases toward straight tube. The friction formula valid
for the toroidal pipe can be applied for the helical pipe only
when torsion parameter and curvature ratio are small

Yang and Ebadian [1] Numerical 40 20,000–50,000 0.7, 5 The rotation and distortion of temperature contours of fully
developed turbulent forced convection in the cross-section is
because of effect of torsion. It was also found that the torsion
effect increased with the increase in fluid axial flow rate

Lin and Ebadian [2] Numerical 20–40 25,000–100,000 7 The pitch, curvature ratio and Reynolds number influenced the
development of thermal fields in fluid with turbulent flow. The
development of Nusselt number was found to be oscillatory
before it was fully developed. The oscillation phenomenon
increased with increase of pitch, curvature ratio and Reynolds
number

Huttl and Friedrich Numerical 0.1 6,926 0.7 It is shown that pipe curvature, which induces a secondary flow,
[23] has a strong effect on the flow quantities. Turbulence is
significantly inhibited by streamline curvature and the flow
almost relaminarizes for high values of the curvature parameter.
Although the torsion effect is weaker than the curvature effect
but it cannot be neglected. It influences the secondary flow
induced by pure curvature and leads to an increase in
fluctuating kinetic energy and dissipation rate

Table 1 ( Continued )
Author Method
Zheng et al. [17] Numerical
Cioncolini and Santini Experimental
[18]
Table 2
Published studies for enhanced heat transfer by chaotic advection
Author
Acharya et al. [24]
Mokrani et al. [25]
Chagny et al. [26]
Acharya et al. [27]
Lemenand and Peerhossaini [28]
Kumar and Nigam [29]
M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905 895
Range of parameters Remarks
1/λ NRe NPr
20 10,000–100,000 0.7 An interaction phenomenon between turbulent forced
convection and thermal radiation of an absorbing-emitting gas
in a curved pipe at different temperature ratio, optical thickness,
and wall emissivity was studied. There was no influence of
thermal radiation, optical thickness, wall emissivity, and
temperature ratio on velocity fields but slightly affected the
temperature fields when only radiation-participating medium
was considered. The Nusselt number was affected by the wall
emissivity
6.9–369 2,900–16,000 7 Coil curvature was found effective in smoothing the emergence
of turbulence. Criterion for predicting turbulence emergence in
coiled pipes was proposed for different curvature ratios
Method Range of parameters Remarks
D/d Re Pr
Numerical and experimental 5 3,000–10,000 7 hi = 512.04NRe 0.138
. There was an enhancement of
6–8% of heat transfer coefficient in helical coil with
alternating axis as compared to conventional helical
coil with constant axis. The pressure drop for the
chaotic configuration was 1.5–2.5% more than the
regular helical coil
Experimental 5.5 60–200 1–30 The effect of chaotic advection in the chaotic heat
exchanger on temperature uniformity and overall
efficiency was studied. Flatter temperature
distribution was found in the chaotic coil as
compared to the regular helical coil. The relative
enhancement of the chaotic heat exchanger was
13–28%
Experimental 11 30–30,000 6.5–820 Comparison for heat transfer between chaotic type
heat exchanger and a helical coil type heat exchanger
was made. At low Reynolds numbers, heating was
more homogeneous and heat transfer was intensified
in the chaotic advection regime without any increase
in energy expenditure. There was no influence on
heat transfer for Prandtl numbers higher than 225
Numerical 5, 10 50–1,200 0.1–10 NNu = 0.7(λ)0.18 NRe0.5 0.375
NPr for Pr ≤ 1, NNu =
0.7(λ) NRe NPr for Pr ≥ 1. The modified coil
0.18 0.5 0.3
geometry had 7–20% more heat transfer with
respect to regular coil with little change in pressure
drop. There was little enhancement with Reynolds
number for Pe ≥ 60
0.303 0.287 −0.033
Numerical 11 100–300 30–100 NNu = 1.045NRe NPr Nbends . A simplified
thermal model was implemented to simulate heat
transfer in a helically coiled and chaotic
configuration
Numerical 10 25–1,200 0.74–150 The bent coil configuration displays a 20–30% heat
transfer enhancement as compared to the straight
helical coil with 5–6% increase in pressure drop
896 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905

results reported by Saxena and Nigam [30] shows that the devise Table 3
was behaving like a plug flow reactor. Properties used in the numerical simulation T0 = 300 K, Tw = 350 K
Recently, Kumar and Nigam [29] numerically studied the Properties Air Water Kerosene Ethylene glycol
hydrodynamics and heat transfer in helical coiled tubes and ρ (kg/m3 ) Ideal gas law 998.2 780 1111.4
coiled flow inverter with curvature ratio, λ = 0.1 for a working Cp (J/kg K) 1006.43 4182 2090 2415
range of 25 ≤ NRe ≤ 1200. They reported that the coiled flow χ (W/m K) 2.4E−2 6E−1 1.49E−1 2.52E−1
inverter displays a 20–30% heat transfer enhancement as com- μ (kg/m s) 1.7894E−5 1.003E−3 2.4E−3 1.57E−2
pared to the straight helical coils under laminar flow conditions Molecular weight 28.96 18.0152 157.30 62.0482
with the small increase in pressure drop.
In the present study, an attempt has been made to predict coil and coiled flow inverter because the RNG model included an
the hydrodynamics and heat transfer in the coiled flow inverter additional term in its ε equation that significantly improved the
for turbulent flow. The flow development and temperature fields accuracy for rapidly strained flows, such as those in curved pipes.
in coiled flow inverter with λ = 0.1 and pitch of 0 and 0.02 m The effect of swirl on turbulence is included in the RNG model,
have been investigated for the range of Reynolds number from enhancing accuracy for swirling flows. Researchers [1,17,32]
10,000 to 30,000. Simulations were done with fluids (air, water, have used k–ε model to simulate the turbulent flow and heat
kerosene and ethylene glycol) of Prandtl number ranging from transfer in curved tube for the same range of flow rate as done in
0.7 to 150. the present work. The maximum difference between the present
study and the past numerical and experimental data [14,15] was
2. Mathematical formulation less than 5% for the same parameter range. The time-averaged,
fully elliptic three-dimensional differential governing equations
2.1. Governing equations can be written in tensor form in the Cartesian system as follows:

The geometry and system of coordinates considered are state : p = ρRT (for air) (1)
shown in Fig. 1. The circular pipe studied, which has a diameter ∂ui
of dt , is coiled at radius of Rc (=dc /2). The distance between mass : =0 (2)
∂xi
the two turns (the pitch) is reported by H. The bends introduced
in between the helical coils are of 90◦ and each helical tube ∂(ρui uj )
has same length before and after the bend. At the inlet (ϕ = 0◦ ), momentum :
∂xj
fluid enters at a temperature T0 with a velocity of u0 . The wall    
of the pipe is heated under constant temperature, Tw . The flow ∂ ∂ui ∂uj 2 ∂uk ∂p
= μeff + − μeff − (3)
was considered to be steady, and constant thermal properties ∂xj ∂xj ∂xi 3 ∂xk ∂xi
were assumed, except for the density of air. The values of T0 ,
Tw , and physical and thermal properties of different fluids have ∂(ρui Cp T )
been reported in Table 3. The ideal gas law assumption was used energy :
∂xi
to the flowing fluid air.   
The RNG k–ε model proposed by Yakhot and Orszag [31] was ∂ ∂T
= αT μeff
used to model the turbulent flow and heat transfer in the helical ∂xi ∂xi
   
dui ∂ui ∂uj 2 ∂uk
+ μeff + − μeff δij (4)
dxj ∂xj ∂xi 3 ∂xk

∂(ρui k)
turbulent kinetic energy :
∂xi
 
∂ ∂k
= αk μeff + μt S 2 + Gb − ρε (5)
∂xi ∂xi

∂(ρui ε)
dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy :
∂xi
 
∂ ∂ε ε ε2
= αε μeff + C1ε μt S 2 − C2ε ρ − R (6)
∂xi ∂xi k k
The effective viscosity, μeff can be defined as
  2
Cμ k
Fig. 1. (a) System of coordinates, (b) geometry of coiled flow inverter and (c) μeff = μmol 1 + √ (7)
μmol ε
unstructured grid on one cross-section of the coiled flow inverter.
 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905 897

where μmol is the molecular viscosity. The coefficients αT , αk all the dependent variables were employed:
and αε in Eqs. (4)–(6) are the inverse effective Prandtl numbers
for T, k, and ε, respectively. u = u0 , T = T0 , k = k0 , ε = ε0 (12)
The inverse effective Prandtl numbers, αT , αk and αε are com- The turbulent kinetic energy at the inlet, k0, and the dissipation
puted using the following formula derived analytically by the rate of turbulent kinetic energy at the inlet, ε0 , are estimated by
RNG theory:
3 k0 3/2
α − 1.3929 0.6321 α + 2.3929 0.3679 μmol k0 = (u0 I)2 , ε0 = Cμ3/4 (13)
= (8) 2 L
α − 1.3929 α + 2.3929 μeff
0 0
The turbulence intensity level, I, is defined as u
/u × 100%,
where α0 is equal to 1/Pr, 1.0, and 1.0, for the computation of where u
is root-mean-square turbulent velocity fluctuation.
αT , αk , αε , respectively. At the outlet, the diffusion fluxes for all variables in exit
When a non-zero gravity field and temperature gradient are direction are set to be zero:
present simultaneously, the k–ε model account for the genera- ∂
tion of k (kinetic energy) due to buoyancy [Gb in Eq. (5)] and (ui , T, k, ε) = 0 (14)
∂n
the corresponding contribution to the production of ε (energy
dissipation) in Eq. (6). In FLUENT, the effects of buoyancy are where n is used to represent the normal coordinate direction
always included despite the fact that the effect of buoyancy is perpendicular to the outlet plane.
not so significant at very high Reynolds number. The generation
of turbulence due to buoyancy is given by 2.3. Parameter definitions
μt ∂T
Gb = βgi (9) The following non-dimensional parameters and variables
Prt ∂xi were used in order to characterize the heat transfer in chaotic
where Prt is the turbulent Prandtl number for energy and gi is configuration:
the component of the gravitational vector in the ith direction. In ρu0 dt √ dt
the case of the RNG k–ε model, Prt = 1/αT , and β, the coefficient NRe = , NDe = NRe λ, λ= ,
μ dc
of thermal expansion, is defined as β = −1/ρ(∂p/∂T)p .  
 A
In the Eq. (6), R is given by Tb − Tw 1
Θ= , Tb = u TDA ,
Tin − Tw ūA 0
Cμ ρη3 (1 − η/η0 ) ε2
R= (10)  2π
1 + ζη3 k fθ =
τw
, f =
1
fθ dθ,
m
(1/2)ρu20 2π 0
where η = S. k/ε, η0 ≈ 4.38, ζ = 0.012. The model constants Cμ ,

C1ε , and C2ε are equal to 0.085, 1.42 and 1.68, respectively [17]. qw dh 1 A
The term S in Eqs. (5) and (6) is
the modulus of the mean NNu,θ = , NNu,m = NNu,θ dθ (15)
χ(Tw − Tb ) A 0
rate-of-strain tensor, defined as S ≡ 2Sij Sij , where
  where λ is the curvature ratio, Tb the bulk temperature, fθ and
1 ∂ui ∂uj NNu,θ , local friction factor and Nusselt number along the circum-
Sij = + (11)
2 ∂xj ∂xi ference of the pipe, respectively, fm and NNu,m , the circumference
average friction factor and Nusselt number and u0 denotes the
The two-layer based, non-equilibrium wall function was used for velocity at the inlet of the tube.
the near-wall treatment of flow in the given geometry. The non-
equilibrium wall functions are recommended for use in complex 3. Numerical computation
flows because of the capability to partly account for the effects of
pressure gradients and departure from equilibrium. The numer- 3.1. Numerical method
ical results for turbulent flow tend to be more susceptible to
grid dependency than those for laminar flow due to the strong The governing equations for mass, momentum and heat
interaction of the mean flow and turbulence. The distance from transfer in the helical pipe were solved in the master Carte-
the wall at the wall-adjacent cells must be determined by con- sian coordinate system with a control-volume finite difference
sidering the range over which the log-law is valid. The size of method (CVFDM) similar to that introduced by Patankar [33].
wall adjacent cells can be estimated from yp (≡ yp+ ν/uτ ), where Fluent 6.2 [36] program was used as a numerical solver for the
uτ ≡ (τw /ρ)0.5 = u(cf /2)0.5 . In the present study, the yp+ was present three-dimensional simulation. An unstructured (block-
taken in the range of 30–60. structured) non-uniform grid system was used to discretize the
governing equations. Fig. 1(c) illustrates the grid topology used
2.2. Boundary conditions on one cross-section. The convection term in the governing
equations was modeled with the bounded second-order upwind
No-slip boundary condition, ui = 0, and constant temperature, scheme and the diffusion term was computed using the mul-
Tw , were imposed at the wall. At the inlet, uniform profiles for tilinear interpolating polynomials nodes Ni (X, Y, Z). The final
898 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905

Table 4 4. Results and discussion

Grid independent test (NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7, and λ = 0.1)
Total grids (cross- NNuθ,max NNu,m Mori and Computations were carried out for parameter values of
sectional × axial) Nakayama [14] 3162 < NDe < 9486, 0.7 < NPr < 150 and Tw = 350 K for coiled
1110 × 440 121.91 82.70 tube and coiled flow inverter with λ = 0.1, H = 0.02 m. Axial flow
1280 × 440 125.75 82.92 84.76 developments and temperature profiles were obtained at differ-
1710 × 440 127.15 83.01 ent planes of ϕ = 15◦ , 30◦ , 60◦ , 90◦ , 120◦ , 180◦ , 270◦ , 360◦ and
1860 × 440 127.15 83.01 720◦ .
1710 × 510 127.15 83.01

4.1. Description of velocity fields

The development of velocity field for fluid at NDe = 6325

discrete algebraic equation for variable φ at each node is a set
at different axial positions in the coiled tube and coiled flow
of nominally linear equations that can be written as
inverter with one and two bends, are shown in Figs. 2–4.

ap φp = anb φnb + Cφ (16)
nb
where the subscript nb denotes neighbor value. The coefficients
ap and anb, contain convection and diffusion coefficients. Cφ is
the source of φ in the control volume surrounding point p. The
SIMPLEC algorithm introduced by Van Doormaal and Raithby
[34] was used to resolve the coupling between velocity and pres-
sure. To accelerate convergence, the under-relaxation technique
was applied to all dependent variables. In the present study, the
under-relaxation factor for the pressure, p, was 0.3; that for tem-
perature, T, was 0.9; that for the velocity component in the i
direction, ui , was 0.5; that for body force was 0.8; that for k and
ε, was 0.7.
3.2. Convergence criteria
The numerical computation is considered converged when
the residual summed over all the computational nodes at the nth
iteration, Rnφ , satisfies the following criterion:
Rnφ
≤ 10−6
Rm
φ
Fig. 2 shows the velocity profile in coiled tube at various cross-
sections. It can be seen that the secondary flow was weak at
small values of ϕ and so there by resulting into symmetrical
velocity profile. The forces acting on the fluid flow in helical
coil tube are stress due to secondary flow of the fluid, pressure
forces and viscous stress at the boundary layer adjacent to wall
of tube. The shear stresses due to secondary flow are counter
balanced by pressure forces and viscous forces. When the fluid
is in turbulent flow, the shear stresses due to secondary flow
is predominant in the core region and the work done by pres-
sure forces and viscous forces is lost by turbulent and laminar
diffusion in the boundary layer. It can be seen that the axial
velocity gradually shifted to outer wall of the curved tube, as
ϕ was increased. This may be due to effect of this unbalanced
centrifugal force on the flow. Hence the maximum axial velocity
was shifted towards the outer wall, as in laminar flow [29]. It was
also seen that the pattern of velocity fields becomes asymmetri-
cal as they were rotated. This rotation of velocity fields may be
due to the torsion. Torsion is a rotational force that generates a
rotational flow due to presence of finite pitch in helical coil. In
the past, the presence of torsion has been mentioned by differ-
(17)

where Rm φ refers to the maximum residual value of φ variable

summed over all the computation cells after the mth iteration
and Rnφ , the value at the nth iteration.
A grid refinement study was conducted to determine an ade-
quate distribution. Boundary layer has been considered while
meshing the geometry in GAMBIT. Table 4 presents a com-
parison of the predicted results at different grid distributions
(cross-sectional × axial) for a fully developed turbulent flow
in coiled tube. The sectional number refers to the total num-
ber of elements on one cross-section (ϕ = constant) of the pipe.
Table 4 indicates that for the computation domain (0 < ϕ < 360◦ ),
1710 × 440 grid arrangement ensures a satisfactory solution for
heat transfer in helical tube and coiled flow inverter. It was
observed that there was insignificant change in the value of Nus-
selt number with further decrease in grid size. All the numerical
computations were carried out on a SUN Fire V440 computer in Fig. 2. Computed velocity contours in coiled tube with λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325,
the Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory at Indian Insti- NPr = 0.7 at different cross sections: (a) ϕ = 15◦ , (b) ϕ = 30◦ , (c) ϕ = 60◦ , (d)
tute of Technology, Delhi. ϕ = 90◦ , (e) ϕ = 120◦ , (f) ϕ = 180◦ , (g) ϕ = 270◦ , (h) ϕ = 360◦ and (i) ϕ = 720◦ .
 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905
Fig. 3. Computed velocity contours in coiled flow inverter (one bend) with
λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7 at different cross sections: (a) ϕ = 15◦ , (b) ϕ = 30◦ ,
(c) ϕ = 60◦ , (d) ϕ = 90◦ , (e) ϕ = 120◦ , (f) ϕ = 180◦ , (g) ϕ = 270◦ , (h) ϕ = 360◦ and
(i) ϕ = 720◦ .
ent workers [19–20,22–23]. No such rotation of velocity fields
in the laminar fully developed flow was observed in the study
of Kumar and Nigam [29]. This suggests that effect of torsion is
less significant for laminar flow as compared to turbulent flow
conditions. A fully developed flow was obtained at ϕ = 270◦ as
it can be seen clearly that the velocity fields does not have much
change after ϕ = 270◦ .
The velocity field from the outlet of coiled tube was intro-
duced at the inlet of coiled flow inverter with one bend. It can be
seen from Fig. 3 that the orientation of flow field gets changed
due to the 90◦ bend. The above result reveals that the velocity
fields, which had maximum velocity in coiled tube, would have
minimum velocity after 90◦ bend. Similarly, the velocity vectors
that were at minimum velocity would have maximum velocity
Fig. 4. Computed velocity contours in coiled flow inverter (two bends) with
λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7 at different cross sections: (a) ϕ = 15◦ , (b) ϕ = 30◦ ,
(c) ϕ = 60◦ , (d) ϕ = 90◦ , (e) ϕ = 120◦ , (f) ϕ = 180◦ , (g) ϕ = 270◦ , (h) ϕ = 360◦ and
(i) ϕ = 720◦ .
899
Fig. 5. Computed velocity contours for fluids of various Prandtl number in: (i)
torus (H = 0) and (ii) helical coil (H = 0.02 m) for NDe = 6325 and ϕ = 360◦ .
after inversion. The initial inversion in case of laminar flow [29]
was observed at 120◦ while in the present case it was 180◦ . This
observation is expected due to intense turbulence. The flow then
again reassembled back to almost 90◦ . It can be also seen that
the velocity fields does not have much change after ϕ = 270◦ ;
indicating a fully developed flow. The oscillations of velocity
fields were observed due to torsion.
The velocity fields from the outlet of first bend were intro-
duced at the inlet of second bend. Fig. 4 shows computed velocity
fields at different cross sections in coiled flow inverter having
two bends. The same phenomenon was observed after the sec-
ond bend as observed after the first bend. The orientation of flow
fields again changed almost to 90◦ .
Computations were also carried out in torus and helical coil
with definite pitch in order to see the effect of torsion. Fig. 5
shows the computed velocity fields of fluids with different
Prandtl number at the outlet of torus and helical coil. The fig-
ure shows that the velocity contours in both the geometry were
gradually shifted towards outer wall as ϕ was increased. The
contours in torus were symmetric to the centerline between the
outer most point to the innermost point. The velocity distribu-
tion at the outlet was found to be similar for fluids of higher
Prandtl number. It was also observed that the velocity contours
in helical coil were asymmetric in nature because of rotational
flow, which is generated due to torsion. There was no change
in behavior of velocity contours even at higher Prandtl number.
This suggests that buoyancy has a little role to play in developed
turbulent flow as compared to developed laminar flow [35].
The complete axial velocity profiles for helical pipe and
coiled flow inverter at different angular planes are shown in
Figs. 6–8. The axial velocity profiles on horizontal centerline
at different axial planes in coiled tube are shown in Fig. 6(i).
This figure shows that at low values of ϕ, the velocity profiles
were almost symmetrical on the horizontal centerline. This result
agrees with the axial velocity field. With the increase of ϕ, the
900 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905
Fig. 6. Development of axial velocity profile on: (i) horizontal centerline and (ii)
vertical centerline in coiled tube with λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7 at different
axial planes: (a) ϕ = 15◦ , (b) ϕ = 30◦ , (c) ϕ = 60◦ , (d) ϕ = 90◦ , (e) ϕ = 120◦ , (f)
ϕ = 180◦ , (g) ϕ = 270◦ and (h) ϕ = 360◦ .
axial velocity became asymmetrical. At the horizontal center-
line, the maximum velocity shifted to the outside of the pipe
because of the unbalanced centrifugal force on the main flow.
The velocity profiles in turbulent flow were shifted more toward
the outer wall as compared to the velocity profiles in laminar flow
presented by Kumar and Nigam [29]. It was also observed that
the velocity profiles on horizontal centerline were flatter than
in the case of laminar flow. The axial velocity profiles at the
vertical centerline are shown in Fig. 6(ii). The velocity became
slightly asymmetrical. The asymmetrical nature may be due to
the torsion effect acting on the fluid. The profiles on the ver-
tical centerline were also flatter in turbulent flow as compared
to laminar flow. The axial velocity profiles at different axial
planes on horizontal centerline in coiled tube with one bend are
shown in Fig. 7(i). It can be seen that the velocity profiles were
Fig. 7. Development of axial velocity profile on: (i) horizontal centerline and (ii)
vertical centerline, in coiled flow inverter (one bend) with λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325,
NPr = 0.7 at different axial planes: (a) ϕ = 0◦ , (b) ϕ = 15◦ , (c) ϕ = 30◦ , (d) ϕ = 60◦ ,
(e) ϕ = 90◦ , (f) ϕ = 120◦ , (g) ϕ = 180◦ , (h) ϕ = 270◦ and (i) ϕ = 360◦ .
Fig. 8. Development of axial velocity profile on: (i) horizontal centerline and
(ii) vertical line in coiled flow inverter (two bends) with λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325,
NPr = 0.7 at different axial planes: (a) ϕ = 0◦ , (b) ϕ = 15◦ , (c) ϕ = 30◦ , (d) ϕ = 60◦ ,
(e) ϕ = 90◦ , (f) ϕ = 120◦ , (g) ϕ = 180◦ , (h) ϕ = 270◦ and (i) ϕ = 360◦ .
almost asymmetrical at initial stage but as ϕ increased, the pro-
files became more and more symmetrical in nature. Fig. 7(ii)
shows the development of axial velocity profile on vertical cen-
terline at different axial planes in coiled tube with one bend.
With the increase of ϕ, the axial velocity shifted to the outside
of the pipe because of the unbalanced centrifugal force. Fig. 7
shows that the velocity profile at vertical and horizontal center-
line was interchanged from that of velocity profile in straight
coiled tube. This is because of reorientation of flow fields due
to 90◦ bend. Fig. 8 shows the axial velocity profiles at different
axial planes in coiled tube with two bends. Same phenomenon
is obtained after second bend. The velocity profiles at vertical
and horizontal centerline were again interchanged.
4.2. Description of temperature fields
Figs. 9–11 represent the development of temperature field
at different axial positions in the coiled tube and coiled flow
inverter with one and two bends, respectively. Fig. 9 shows
the variation of computed temperature contours at various
cross-sectional planes in coiled tube. The developments of the
temperature fields agree with that of the axial velocity fields.
There was negligible effect of secondary flow near the tube
inlet. It can be seen that as ϕ increased, the secondary flow was
enhanced. Due to the secondary flow, the temperature fields with
lower values were pushed towards outer wall region. A com-
parison of dimensionless temperature contours at ϕ = 270◦ and
ϕ = 360◦ reveals that there was not much change in temperature
distribution. This indicates that the temperature boundary layer
has become fully developed, hence heat transfer is fully devel-
oped at ϕ = 270. When ϕ is small, the temperature fields were
symmetric to the centerline between the outer most point to the
innermost point. But at the later stage, rotation of temperature
contours was found, similar to the velocity fields. The tempera-
ture contours in the present study were found to be more uniform
as compared to the laminar flow [29]. In the laminar flow, two
 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905
Fig. 9. Computed temperature contours in coiled tube with λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325,
NPr = 0.7 at different cross sections: (a) ϕ = 15◦ , (b) ϕ = 30◦ , (c) ϕ = 60◦ , (d)
ϕ = 90◦ , (e) ϕ = 120◦ , (f) ϕ = 180◦ , (g) ϕ = 270◦ , (h) ϕ = 360◦ and (i) ϕ = 720◦ .
Dean roll cells were observed which were absent in this study.
Similar distinction between laminar and turbulent temperature
profiles was also made by Yang and Ebadian [1]. The absence
of Dean roll cells in turbulent flow may be due to the reason
that the secondary flow is not as prominent as in case of laminar
flow. Also the thermal diffusivity is high in case of turbulent
flow. Fluids at high thermal diffusivity rapidly adjust their tem-
perature to that of their surroundings, because they conduct heat
quickly. Hence there was no incursion or penetration in fluid as
was found in laminar flow. As a result the Dean Roll cells were
absent in fluid with turbulent flow. Fig. 10 shows the devel-
opment of temperature contours at different axial positions in
coiled flow inverter with one bend. The direction of temperature
Fig. 10. Computed temperature contours in coiled flow inverter (one bend) with
λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7 at different cross sections: (a) ϕ = 15◦ , (b) ϕ = 30◦ ,
(c) ϕ = 60◦ , (d) ϕ = 90◦ , (e) ϕ = 120◦ , (f) ϕ = 180◦ , (g) ϕ = 270◦ , (h) ϕ = 360◦ and
(i) ϕ = 720◦ .
901
Fig. 11. Computed temperature contours in bent helix (two bends) with λ = 0.1,
NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7 at different cross sections: (a) ϕ = 15◦ , (b) ϕ = 30◦ , (c)
ϕ = 60◦ , (d) ϕ = 90◦ , (e) ϕ = 120◦ , (f) ϕ = 180◦ , (g) ϕ = 270◦ , (h) ϕ = 360◦ and (i)
ϕ = 720◦ .
contours gradually changed as ϕ was increased. It can be seen
that there was no appreciable change in distribution of tempera-
ture contours after ϕ = 270◦ . This further confirms that the flow
was fully developed. The maximum temperature was obtained
at the inner wall and minimum temperature at the outer wall
of the tube. Fig. 11 shows computed temperature fields at dif-
ferent cross sections in coiled flow inverter having two bends.
The same phenomenon was observed after the second bend as
observed after the first bend. It was also observed that the temper-
ature became more and more uniform as ϕ increased; indicating
a good mixing of fluids due to flow inversion. Further work is
being done considering the affect of variable properties on fluid
flowing through coiled flow inverter. The work will be included
in the part II of the paper.
Fig. 12 shows the temperature contours for fluids of vari-
ous Prandtl number at the outlet of torus and helical coil. It
was found that due to secondary flow, the contours were pushed
towards the outer wall of both the geometries. Slight distortion
of temperature contours were found in the helical coil similar
to the velocity contours. It was also observed that as the Prandtl
number was increased, the temperature fields became more and
more uniform. Reason for this can be because of the fact that
Prandtl number is the ratio of momentum diffusivity (kinematic
viscosity) to thermal diffusivity. Thermal diffusivity is the ratio
of heat conducted through the material to the heat stored per unit
volume. When Prandtl number is small, it means that the ther-
mal diffusivity is high and heat diffuses very quickly compared
to the velocity (momentum). If Prandtl number is high then the
thermal diffusivity is small. This means that a big part of the heat
is absorbed by the fluid and only a small portion is conducted
through it.
The development of computed temperature profile on hor-
izontal and vertical centerline at different axial planes in
coiled tube and coiled flow inverter at one and two bends, are
902 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905

Fig. 14. Development of temperature profile on: (i) horizontal centerline and (ii)
vertical centerline, in coiled flow inverter (one bend) with λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325,
Fig. 12. Computed temperature contours for fluids of various Prandtl number NPr = 0.7 at different cross sections: (a) ϕ = 0◦ , (b) ϕ = 15◦ , (c) ϕ = 30◦ , (d)
in: (i) torus (H = 0) and (ii) helical coil (H = 0.02 m) for NDe = 6325 and ϕ = 360◦ . ϕ = 60◦ , (e) ϕ = 90◦ , (f) ϕ = 120◦ , (g) ϕ = 180◦ , (h) ϕ = 270◦ and (i) ϕ = 360◦ .

shown in Figs. 13–15. It can be seen that the development of 5. Heat transfer comparison
the temperature profile agrees with that of the axial velocity
profile. The accuracy and reliability of the present computation tech-
nique was checked by comparing the literature value of fully
4.3. Effect of number of bends developed heat transfer coefficient in helical coiled tube. The
comparison of present predictions of the fully developed Nus-
Figs. 16 and 17 show the velocity and temperature fields with selt number is made with the correlation by Mori and Nakayama
varying number of bends at Dean number = 6325 and φ = 360◦ . [14] and Schmidt [15]. Mori and Nakayama [14] proposed the
Fig. 16 shows that there was no significant change in the veloc- following correlation:
ity fields in helical tube and coiled flow inverter at horizontal
centerline as well as vertical centerline after the flow was fully NPr
NNuc = 2/3
developed. Similarly results were obtained with respect to tem- 26.2(NPr − 0.074)
perature profile and are shown in Fig. 17. This shows that after  1/10 
the flow becomes fully developed, the velocity and temperature 4/5 dt 0.098
× NRe 1+ 1/5
(18)
profiles don’t show significant changes. dc [NRe (dt /dc )2 ]

Fig. 13. Development of temperature profile on: (i) horizontal centerline and (ii) Fig. 15. Development of temperature profile on: (i) horizontal centerline and
vertical centerline, in coiled tube with λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7 at different (ii) vertical line, in coiled flow inverter (two bends) with λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325,
cross sections: (a) ϕ = 15◦ , (b) ϕ = 30◦ , (c) ϕ = 60◦ , (d) ϕ = 90◦ , (e) ϕ = 120◦ , (f) NPr = 0.7 at different cross sections: (a) ϕ = 0◦ , (b) ϕ = 15◦ , (c) ϕ = 30◦ , (d)
ϕ = 180◦ , (g) ϕ = 270◦ and (h) ϕ = 360◦ . ϕ = 60◦ , (e) ϕ = 90◦ , (f) ϕ = 120◦ , (g) ϕ = 180◦ , (h) ϕ = 270◦ and (i) ϕ = 360◦ .
 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905 903

Fig. 18. Comparison of computed fully developed Nusselt number for NPr = 0.7
and λ = 0.1, with the data of Mori and Nakayama [14] and Schmidt [15].

The empirical formula presented by Schmidt’s experimental

work [15] is as following:
NNufd
= 1.0 + 3.6(1 − λ)λ0.8 (19)
NNus

where NNus = 0.023NRe 0.8 N 0.4 .

Pr
Fig. 16. Fully developed axial velocity profile on: (i) horizontal centerline and It can be observed from Fig. 18 that the present predictions
(ii) vertical centerline in coiled tube and different coiled flow inverter with
of Nusselt number were in good agreement with the available
λ = 0.1, NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7.
results. The maximum deviation between the present predictions
and the empirical correlation is less than 5%.
The results of the numerical computations for enhancement
of heat transfer with Dean number (NDe ) in coils with two bends
is shown in Fig. 19. From the Fig. 19, it can be seen that the Nus-
selt number increased with the increase in Dean number. It can
also be observed that there was 4–13% heat transfer enhance-
ment in coiled flow inverter as compared to the straight helical
coil. The figure also shows 35–45% increase of heat transfer
in coiled flow inverter as compared to straight tube. The heat
gain for straight helical coil over straight tube was found to be

Fig. 17. Fully developed temperature profile on: (i) horizontal centerline and (ii)
vertical centreline in coiled tube and different coiled flow inverter with λ = 0.1, Fig. 19. Nusselt number variation with Dean number at NPr = 0.7 and λ = 0.1;
NDe = 6325, NPr = 0.7. in straight tube, coiled tube and coiled flow inverter with two bends.
904 M. Mridha, K.D.P. Nigam / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 893–905

6. Conclusion

In the present study, hydrodynamics and heat transfer of tur-

bulent forced convection in an innovative heat exchanger having
coils with one and two bends with circular cross section have
been investigated. The developments of velocity fields at differ-
ent axial positions in straight helical coil and coiled flow inverter
with one and two bends have been reported under turbulent flow
conditions. A slight rotation of velocity contours was observed
in the coiled tubes. This may be due to the torsion caused by
turbulent flow. It was found that buoyancy doesn’t have major
role in the turbulent forced convection of fluid in coiled tubes.
The velocity fields were increasingly uniform as the numbers of
bends in the coiled tube were increased. This may be because
Fig. 20. Nusselt number variation with Prandtl number at NDe = 6325 and of increase in radial mixing. Similar results were found with the
λ = 0.1; in straight tube, coiled tube and coiled flow inverter with two bends. temperature fields in coiled tube and coiled flow inverter. The
cold regions present in the straight coil are modified in bent coil
due to radial mixing. Eventually, the heat transfer was enhanced.
32–35%. Computations were also carried out to study the effect
It was found that the enhancement of heat transfer in coiled flow
of Prandtl number. Fig. 20 shows 4–12% enhancement of heat
inverter as compared to straight coil and straight tube is more
transfer in coiled flow inverter as compared to straight coiled
than the increase in friction factor. The effect of heat transfer
tube as Prandtl number was increased. It can also be observed
in fluid of higher Prandtl number was also studied. The study
that the heat transfer in coiled flow inverter was 24–43%
shows that the heat transfer increases with increase in Prandtl
more as compared to straight tube with increase in Prandtl
number.
number.
It can be seen from Fig. 21 that the increase of friction factor in
Acknowledgements
bent coil tube to that of straight coiled tube at low values of Dean
number was about 9%. The percentage increase of friction fac-
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Ministry of Chemical
tor in coiled flow inverter to straight coiled tube decreased with
and Fertilizers, GOI, India for funding the project.
increase in value of Dean Number and it reduces to about 2% at
NDe = 9487. This may be due to the fact that the hydrodynamic
Appendix A. Nomenclature
effect of both helical coil and coiled flow inverter becomes com-
parable at higher Dean number. So both configurations become
more and more equivalent in performance. Similar observations
A area (m2 )
were found by Chagny et al. [26] who studied the chaotic flow
cf skin friction coefficient
obtained by alternately turning the axis of curved tubes (half cir-
C1ε , C2ε , Cμ turbulent model constant
cles) by 90◦ . The Fig. 21 also shows 29–30% increase in friction
Cp specific heat (kJ/kg K)
factor in coiled flow inverter as compared to straight tube. The
dc diameter of the coil (m)
increase in friction factor of straight helical coil over straight
dh hydraulic diameter of the helical pipe (m)
tube is 23–28%.
dt diameter of the helical pipe (m)
D dispersion coefficient (m2 /s)
H pitch (m)
k turbulent kinetic energy (m2 /s2 )
L length of reactor (m)
n coordinate direction perpendicular
√ to a surface
NDe Dean number [NDe = NRe λ]
NNu Nusselt number [NNu,θ = qw dh /χ(Tw − Tb )]
NPr molecular Prandtl number [NPr = Cp μ/χ]
NRe Reynolds number [NRe = ρu0 dt /μ]
p pressure (N/m2 )
q heat flux (W/m2 )
T temperature (K)
Tb fluid bulk temperature on one cross-section (K)
u velocity component in flow direction (m/s)
u0 inlet velocity (m/s)
Fig. 21. Friction factor variation with Dean number at NPr = 0.7 and λ = 0.1; in ui velocity component in i-direction (i = 1, 2 and 3) (m/s)
straight tube, coiled tube and coiled flow inverter with two bends. u
root-mean-square turbulent velocity fluctuation (m/s)
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