International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 55 (2012) 47014710

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

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Experimental and numerical study of convective heat transfer and uid ow in twisted oval tubes
Xiang-hui Tan, Dong-sheng Zhu , Guo-yan Zhou, Li-ding Zeng
Key Laboratory of Pressure Systems and Safety of Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Twisted oval tube heat exchanger is a type of heat exchanger aims at decreasing the pressure drop of the shell side. In the present study, heat transfer and pressure drop performances of twisted oval tube have been studied experimentally and numerically. The experimental study of the twisted oval tube shows that heat transfer process can be enhanced but also with an increasing of pressure drop when compared with the smooth round tube. The effects of geometrical parameters on the performance of the twisted oval tube have been analyzed numerically. The result reveals that the heat transfer coefcient and friction factor both increase with the increasing of axis ratio a/b, while both decrease with the increasing of twist pitch length P. The inuence of a/b and P on the overall performance of the twisted oval tubes are also studied. Aiming at obtaining the heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the twisted oval tube, secondary ow, total velocity and temperature distributions of ow section are given. From the analysis it can be concluded that the emergence of twist in the twisted oval tube results in secondary ow. It exists in the form of spiral ow when a/b is big, but in the form of up and down when a/b is small. It is this secondary ow that changes the total velocity and temperature distributions of the twisted oval tube when compared with a smooth oval tube with the same sectional geometric parameters. Then the synergy angle between velocity vector and temperature gradient is reduced and the heat transfer process is enhanced. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 28 February 2012 Received in revised form 13 April 2012 Accepted 14 April 2012 Available online 14 May 2012 Keywords: Twisted oval tube Heat transfer performance Pressure drop performance Heat transfer enhancement mechanism

1. Introduction Heat exchanger has been widely used in many industry elds, such as the oil rening system, refrigeration system and also many other chemical systems. From the point of energy saving, it is very important to promote the efciency of heat exchangers by using heat transfer enhancement techniques. Promoting the efciency of heat exchangers can be realized in two ways: increasing the heat transfer coefcient and decreasing the pressure drop [1]. Most of the heat transfer enhancement techniques are aiming at increasing the heat transfer coefcient such as the application of n tube, corrugated tube. However, little attention is focused on the decreasing of pressure drop. Twisted oval tube heat exchanger is a type of longitude ow heat exchanger which can increase the heat transfer coefcient of the tube side and also decrease the pressure drop of the shell side. Tubes that play an important role in this heat transfer enhancement technique are made from smooth round tubes. They are formed into an oval section with a superimposed twist by some special techniques. Two ends of the tubes remain round on the
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 21 64253708.
E-mail address: cedshzhu@ecust.edu.cn (D.-s. Zhu). 0017-9310/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.04.030

consideration of assembling them with the tube sheet. Sketch of this tube is illustrated in Fig. 1(a). Geometrical parameters of the twisted oval tube are twist pitch length (P) within which an oval section twists 360 degree, outer major axis (A) of the oval section and outer minor axis (B) of the oval section. a and b in Fig. 1 are inner major axis and inner minor axis, respectively. When the tubes are arrayed in the same direction, they can be supported by the tubes themselves (Fig. 1(b)) but not bafes or rods that a normal shell tube heat exchanger needed. This special geometrical characteristic can form a longitude ow channel which will considerably reduce the pressure drop of the heat exchanger. Many reports about the heat and uid ow in the shell side of the twisted oval tube heat exchanger can be found in Dzyubenkos research, including the analysis of turbulent intensity, boundary layer depth and heat diffusion coefcient [24], and also numerical models for predicting the shell side heat transfer and pressure drop performance [5], optimization methods for designing a twisted oval tube heat exchanger [67]. Experimental and numerical studies have also been used to obtain the shell side heat transfer and pressure drop correlations of the twisted oval tube heat exchanger [810]. Also, from the point of application, Mushabbab [11] studied the fouling characteristics of uid ow in a twisted oval tube heat exchanger.

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Nomenclature A a Ac At B b Cp dh dm dr f F G h h I j k K L l ld m n Nu p P Pr Q outer major axis of the twisted oval tube, m inner major axis of the twisted oval tube, m sectional area, m2 tube side ow area, m2 outer minor axis of the twisted oval tube, m inner minor axis of the twisted oval tube, m isobaric specic heat, J/kgK hydraulic diameter, m Logarithmic mean diameter, m smooth round tube diameter, m friction factor of the tube heat transfer area, m2 mass ow rate, kg/s heat transfer coefcient, W/m2K heat transfer coefcient, W/m2K Turbulence intensity heat transfer factor turbulence kinetic energy overall heat transfer coefcient, W/m2K length of tube, m length from the inlet of the tube, m turbulent length scale, m constants for j and f factor correlations constants for j and f factor correlations Nusselt number pressure, Pa twist pitch length, m Prantl number heat transfer rate, W Re T U u, v, w ut V x, y, z Reynold number temperature, K velocity vector physical velocity components, m/s tube side velocity, m/s volume ow rate, m3/s x, y and axial direction coordinates

Greek symbols DP pressure drop, Pa DTm Logarithmic mean temperature difference, K h synergy angle k thermal conductivity, W/mK l dynamic viscosity, Pas dissipating rate n overall performance q density, kg/m3 e turbulence kinetic energy subscripts t tube side 0 parameters of the object to be compared f friction factor h hydraulic diameter i inlet/inner side j heat transfer factor o outlet/outer side s shell side w wall

In terms of analyzing the effect of ow eld on temperature eld in twisted oval tube, little research have been done, except that from the point of obtaining the heat transfer and pressure drop correlations Meng et al. [17] studied the ow in a twisted oval tube numerically at Re = 5001500. Bishara et al. [18] simulated the laminar ow in a twisted oval tube. But details of their conclusion are not available. Heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the twisted oval tube is still not clear. The present study is aiming at guring it out in turbulent state numerically. 2. Experimental study of the twisted oval tube In order to ensure the reliability of the numerical method, Heat transfer coefcients and friction factors from the numerical study should be compared with the experimental results. Correlations that reect the heat transfer and pressure drop performance of twisted oval tube heat exchanger have also been reviewed by Yang et al. [15]. From their correlations it can be found that their heat transfer coefcient correlations are consist with each other to some degree. However, for pressure drop correlations, they are different from each other. So the heat transfer coefcient and friction factors should be experimentally studied rstly. 2.1. Experimental apparatus and data reduction 2.1.1. Experimental apparatus An experimental system for testing the heat transfer and pressure drop performances of twisted oval tube is illustrated in Fig. 2. A double-pipe heat exchanger with hot water owing in the shell side and cold water owing in the tube side was applied. The outer tube of the heat exchanger was a round tube and the inner tube was twisted oval tube. Before the tests, water in hot water

Fig. 1. Sketch of twisted oval tube and self supported twisted oval tubes (a) Sketch of twisted oval tube. (b) Sketch of self supported oval tubes).

In terms of the tube side, experimental studies have also been taken on the purpose of obtaining the heat transfer and pressure drop performance of the twisted oval tube. In the early stage, Asmantas et. al[12] tested the performance of twisted oval tube to get the heat transfer and pressure drop correlations. Tests on consideration of the effects of Pr, geometrical parameters on the performance of the twisted oval tube have also been accomplished in turbulent state [1315]. Gao et al. [16] studied the phenomenon of boiling when the twisted oval tube technique is combined with porous media.

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4703

e sid de valv v e 1.Tube m er 2.T Tube b side s e flow mete ump p 4.C Cold wa ater tank t k wate er pu 3.Cold w ater tan ransmitter 6 .Hot . t wa re tr nk iffer rent tial pres p ssur 5. Di mp Hot wa ater p pum d pip pe 8.H 7.Coiled s e flo ow mete m er alve 10. Shell side hell side e va 9. Sh ed oval o l tub be . Tw wiste on Syst S tem 12. Data a Ac cquisitio 11. D xcha ange er al tu ube hea at ex Twis sted d ova 13. T f d T Tube side fluid S Shel ll si ide fluid f d nt easu urem men Me mper ratur re oint t of tem Tes sting po * int of o pr ress sure e Test T ing poi

Fig. 2. Testing system of the tube side heat transfer and pressure drop performance.

tank was heated by the coiled pipes with steam owing in them, and then the water in the tank was circulated by a centrifugal pump to ensure the homogeneity of temperature. Both the cold water tank and hot water tank were equipped to 30 m3 to fulll the demand of water during the tests. Length of the tested section was 3 m. The upstream tube section of the tested tube was made long and straight in order to ensure a fully developed ow in tube. Shut-off valves were installed to regulate the velocity of the hot water and cold water. The whole system including the two tanks, the test section and the pipes that connect all of them were wrapped with glass ber to insulate them from the surroundings. Parameters that measured were shell/tube side volume ow rate Vs Vt, shell/tube side inlet/outlet bulk temperature and tube side pressure drop. All of the temperatures were measured with T-type thermocouples which were calibrated in a same temperature with an accuracy of 0.25%. Two electromagnetic ow meters with an uncertainty of 0.5% were equipped to measure the ow rate of the shell side and tube side water. Pressure drop of the tested twisted oval tube was measured using the differential pressure transmitter with an accuracy of 0.075%. In addition, the measurement uncertainties of tube diameter and tube length were about 0.5% and 0.04%, respectively. The relative accuracy of each physical parameter is about 0.5%. During the tests, cold water in the tube side was pumped from the cold water tank, and it was heated in the double-pipe heat exchanger by the hot water which was pumped from the hot water tank. Shell side volume ow rate was kept with its maximum value and much bigger than the tube side ow rate while the tube side volume ow rate was regulated by the shut-off valve. Purpose of keeping the shell side volume ow rate as its maximum value and much bigger than the tube side ow rate was to ensure little temperature difference of the shell side and this would result Pr and Re of the shell side almost a constant when the tube side volume ow rate was regulated as required. For each test run with a constant shell/tube side ow rate, the system was assumed to be in a steady state on the condition that temperature at the inlet/outlet of tube/shell side did not exceed 0.2C, and the uctuation of the pressure difference was less than 1%. Then the inlet/outlet temperatures of both the tube side and the shell side would be saved to calculating its heat transfer performance and also the pressure drop would be obtained from the pressure difference transmitter. A smooth round tube and a twisted oval tube made from the former one are tested with the testing system introduced above. All of the tubes are made of stainless steel with a length of 3 m. Inner diameter and outer diameter of the smooth round tube are 25 mm and 20 mm, respectively. The twisted oval tube which is made from the smooth round tube has an oval section. Its geometrical parameters are shown in Fig. 1(a), Outer major axis (A) and

outer minor axis (B) of the twisted oval tube are 29 mm and 19.5 mm, respectively. The twist pitch length (P) is 200 mm. Wall thickness of the twisted oval tube is 2.5 mm. 2.1.2. Data reduction During the data reduction procedure, fouling resistance of the double-tube heat exchanger is assumed to be zero. From Fourier Law and basic equations of heat transfer process, heat transfer coefcient of the double tube heat exchanger K can be derived as follow:

K Q = F DT m 1 dr;i ddm 1 K ht dr;o kw dr;o hs

1 2

Where ht and hs are the tube side and shell side heat transfer coefcient, respectively. Q is the heat duty. Shell side and tube side heat duty, Qs and Qt can be calculated as:

Q s G s C p;s T h ;i T h ;o Q t G t C p;t T c ;o T c ;i

3a 3b

Considering the hot uid ows in the shell side, and there may still exists little heat elimination, Q is assumed to be equal with Qt. Because that the twisted oval tube is made from a smooth round tube, the heat transfer area of the tested heat exchanger is calculated as:

F pdr;o L

Logarithmic mean temperature difference DTm and logarithmic mean diameter dm are calculated as:

DT m

T s;o T t;i T s;i T t;o lnT s;o T t;i =T s;i T t;o dh;t;o dh;t;i dm lndh;t;o =dh;t;i

5 6

Heat transfer performance of uid owing in the tube/shell side of the above heat exchanger can be calculated as:

ht

kt kt kt n :4 Nut j Pr0:4 mt;j Ret t:j Pr0 t dh;t;i dh;t;i t t dh;t;i kt ks ks 0 :3 s ;j hs Nus j Pr0:3 ms;j Ren s Prs dh;t;i dh;s s s dh;s

7 8

Where Nut and Nus are the Nusselt numbers of tube side and shell side, respectively. jt and js are tube side and shell side heat transfer factors, respectively. Exponent of Pr are set as 0.4 and 0.3 for uid that to be heated and cooled, respectively. From Eq. (8) and considering that the shell side Re and Pr is assumed as constants, the heat transfer coefcient of the shell side

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can be assumed to be a constant. Dening C 1=ho ddm =kdt;o , Eq. (2) can be derived as:

(a) 400
300 200 Nu Equation Dittus-Bolter

1 kt n :4 mt;j Ret t;j Pr0 t C K dt;o

Pressure drop DPt of the tested tubes can be expressed as:

DP t f

Lt qt u2 t dt;i 2

10

100

where ft is the friction factor of the tested tube, f, ut and Ret can be expressed as:

n mt;f Ret t;f

2x10

11 12 13

Re

4x10

6x10

Vt ut At

(b)
0.032 0.028 f 0.024 Equation Blasius

q ut dh;t Ret t lt

Hydraulic diameters that mentioned above are all calculated with the following method:

dh

4Ac C

14

0.02 2x10
4

So sets of (Ret, K) and (Ret, f) can be obtained after the experimental tests. With the help of least square method, mt,h, nt,h, C, mt,f, nt,f can be tted. And the heat transfer coefcient and pressure drop correlations of the tested tubes can be directly derived. Similar testing method and data reduction method can also been found in Yang et al. [15]s research. The uncertainty is estimated with the method suggested by Moffat [19] and Kline [20]. According to the accuracy of the testing apparatuses and the data reduction method the uncertainty of overall heat transfer coefcient and pressure drop are 7.5% and 4.8%, respectively. This degree of accuracy can be accepted by the industry. 2.2. Experimental result 2.2.1. Verication of the testing system In order to conrm the reliability of the testing system, the smooth round tube heat transfer factor Eq. (15a) and friction factor Eq. (15b) correlations derived from the tests are compared with the predictions of the DittusBoelter correlation, Eq. (16a) and Blasius correlation, Eq. (16b).

Re

4x10

6x10

Fig. 3. Reliability of the testing system.

j 0:0121Re0:87 f 0:37861Re0:27137

17a 17b

The correlations are shown in Fig. 4, Fig. 4(a) is the distribution of Nu with the variation of Re and Fig. 4(b) is the distribution of f with the variation of Re. In Fig. 4, the present results are also compared with the results from former researchers. Heat transfer and pressure drop correlations which are derived from DittusBoelter equation and Blasius equation are also presented in Fig. 5 to analyze the

(a)

400 300 200 Gao et al. Yang et al. Equation

f 0:3474Re0:26 j 0:023Re0:80 f 0:3164Re0:25

15b 16a 16b

Nu 100

j 0:0420Re0:74

15a

Fig. 3 shows the comparison of h and f from Eq. (15) and those from Eq. (16). The heat transfer factor correlation derived from the experimental data for turbulent ow agrees well with the DittusBoelter correlation with a deviation between 5.63% and 11%, and the average deviation is 3.58%. The friction factor correlation derived from the experimental data for turbulent ow agrees well with the Blasius correlation with a deviation between 1.75% and 0.94%, and the average deviation is 1.05%. From the result, it can be proved that the experimental system and data reduction method for obtaining the heat transfer factor and friction factor correlations of the tested tube are effective. 2.2.2. Heat transfer and pressure drop performance of twisted oval tubes As the method mentioned above, heat transfer factor and friction factor of the tested twisted oval tube with P = 200 mm can be derived as:

20000

Re

40000

60000

(b)

0.1

Gao et al. Yang et al. Equation

f 0.01 2x10
4

Re

4x10

6x10

Fig. 4. Comparison with former researches (a) Differences of Nu between Gao et al., Yang et al. and the present test. (b) Differences of f between Gao et al., Yang et al. and the present test.

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4705

(a)

3.1. Mathematic model of the simulation

10
4 3

8x10 6x10 h(W/m K)

2

Smooth round tube Twisted oval tube

4x10

In the simulation of uid ow, the Realizable ke model [21] is chosen. The justication of this model will be discussed later. The governing equations in Cartesian coordinate of fully development turbulence uid ow in twisted oval tube in tensor form are shown as follow: The continuity equation:

2x10

@ q @ quj 0 @ xj @t
2x10
4

18

Re

4x10

6x10

The momentum equation:

(b)
Smooth round tube Twisted oval tube 1000 P(Pa)

  @ ui @ ui @p @ @ ui @ uj l quj @ xi @ xj @ xj @ xi @t @ xj   @T @ ui T @ ui @ @ ui @ uj q p k @t @ xi @ xj @ xj @ xi @ xi     

19

The energy equation:

20

The k equation:

100

q
20000 Re 40000 60000

@k @ uj k @ q @t @ xj @ xj

lt @ k @ ui @ ui @ uj gt r k @ xj @ xj @ xj @ xi

qe
The e equation:

21  

Fig. 5. Comparison of heat transfer and pressure drop performance between smooth round tube and twisted oval tube (a) Comparison of the heat transfer performance. (b) Comparison of the pressure drop performance.

@e @ uj e @ q @ xj @ xj @t



lt @ e e2 p c1 qSe c2 q r e @ xj k me

22

performance of the twisted oval tube. Twisted oval tube which is made from a smooth round tube has a different hydraulic diameter with the later one. It means that the same Nu and f will result in different h and DP ., So performances of the twisted oval tube and smooth round tube which are calculated from Eq. (16) and Eq. (17) are presented in the form of heat transfer coefcient h and pressure drop DP in Fig. 5 in the present study. From Fig. 4(a), it can be found that Nusselt number correlation tted from the experimental data agrees well with Yang et al. [15] and Gao et al. [14]s result .the average difference between Eq. (17a) and Gao et al. [14]s result is 4.03% and the average difference between Eq. (17a) and Yang et al. [15]s result is 10.26%. Nevertheless, differences of friction factor between them are obvious. Fig. 5 gives the variation of heat transfer coefcient and pressure drop with the increasing of Re for the tested tubes in the range of 104 < Re < 6 104, Referring to Fig. 5(a), it can be observed that the heat transfer performance of the twisted oval tube is better than the smooth round tube. And from Fig. 5(b) its pressure drop can also be found higher.

where:

    q g Sk 1 @ ui @ uj ; c1 max 0:43; ; g ; S 2Si;j Si;j Si;j g5 2 @ xj @ xi e c2 1:9;

re 1:2; rk 1:0; lt cl qk2 =e

What is more, cl in the expression for calculating lt is not a constant. It is a function of mean strain and rotation rates. Details for its calculating method can be found in Shih et al.s [21] research. Boundary conditions are as follow: Wall boundary condition:

T w 350K; uw 0;

v w 0;

ww 0

Inlet boundary condition: ui = 0, vi = 0, wi = constant, ki = constant, ei = constant. Ti = 300 K

I 0:16Redh 1=8 ;

ld 0:007dh

Properties of water are employed in the simulation, details are:

3. Numerical simulation approach In order to get the heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the twisted oval tube, velocity and temperature distributions of twisted oval tubes and a smooth oval tube are comparatively analyzed with Fluent 6.3. On the purpose of getting the effects of a/b and P on the heat transfer and pressure drop performances of the twisted oval tube, tubes with different geometrical parameters are also studied. Geometrical parameters of the studied tubes are illustrated in Table 1. Among these tubes, Case 11 to Case 13 are tubes with the same pitch length P but with different major axis a and minor axis b. Case 21 to Case 24 are tubes with the same sectional geometric parameters but with different twist pitch length P. Case 3 is an oval tube with the same sectional geometric parameters with case 21.

l 0:4522 103 Pa s; C P 4:1749kJ=kg k k 0:6472W=m k; q 1000kg=m3

SIMPLE algorithm is employed to solve the ow and pressure equations. The standard-deviation method [22] is employed in the pressure term. The second order upwind algorithm mentioned in Ref.[23]is employed in the discretion of the rest equations. The standard wall function method is employed in simulating the boundary layer motion of the uid [24]. The whole simulation work is done with Fluent 6.3 [22] on a Dell PC with its cache 4048 MB. All the governing equations are solved with pressure-based coupled algorithm. Firstly, It solves a coupled system of equations comprising the momentum equations and the pressure based continuity equation. And then, solves the energy, turbulence and other scalar equations. The detailed computation process is the same with Chorin [25]s research. The Numerical study shows that a fully developed ow can be found when the length from the inlet l > 2P, Based on this, in the

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Table 1 Geometric parameters of the twisted oval tubes. item Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 11122223 Inner major axis a/ mm 24 26 27 28 28 28 28 28 Inner minor axis b/ mm 14.5 12.5 11 9 9 9 9 9 Twist pitch length S/ mm 200 200 200 100 150 200 250 -

(a)

400 300 Experimental result of Nu RNG model result of Nu Realized k- model result of Nu Standard k- model result of Nu

Nu

200 100

10000

20000

30000 40000 Re

50000

60000

(b) 0.040
0.035 0.030 f 0.025 Experimental result of f RNG model result of f Realized k- model result of f Standard k- model result of f

(a)

(b)

0.020 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 Re

Fig. 7. Comparison of numerical results and experimental results of case 1-1 (a) Comparison of Nu. (b) Comparison of f.

Fig. 6. Sketch of the grid system (a) Sketch of sectional grid. (b) Sketch of longitude grid.

following study, the average heat transfer coefcient and friction factor of in the range of 2P < l < 3P of the twisted oval tube is assumed to be the performance of the tube. In order to verify the accuracy of numerical simulation in our simulation work, Different grid strategies are employed in the simulation. The cross section of the tube is meshed with unstructured grids and sweep grids are used to discrete the whole volume of the twisted oval tube. The grid system which has been shown in Fig. 6 is generated with Gambit 2.4. Simulation results of different grid strategies of Case 1-1 with wi = 0.5 m/s are shown in Table 2. Considering the efciency of the simulation, grid size 0.81 is employed as the grid system of the numerical study. Comparison between the numerical results and the experimental results of case 1-1 are shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 7(a) is the comparison of Nu with different turbulent models while Fig. 7(b)

is the comparison of f. In order to justify the realizable k-e model, numerical results with standard kt model and RNG model are also given. From Fig. 7, it can be found that the three turbulent models are all reasonable for the present case. Considering about the accuracy when compared with the experimental result, it is obvious that the Realized k-e model is the best for the current case. Average tolerances of Nu and f between the experimental results and numerical results with Realized k-e model are 2.7% and 4.6%, respectively. So the grid system and numerical study method are reliable. 3.2. Heat transfer and pressure drop performance of the twisted oval tubes 3.2.1. Performance of tubes with different a/b Case 1-1, case 1-2, case 1-3 and case 2-3 are tubes formed from the same smooth round tube with d = 20 mm and P = 200 mm. But a/b is different from each other which are 1.66, 2.08, 2.45, 3.11, respectively. Obviously, the higher the value of a/b is, the atter an oval ow section becomes, and the inuence of the geometric boundary is more drastic. This would result in an increment on both heat transfer coefcient and pressure drop due to these geometrical changes. As expected, from Fig. 8(a) it can be found that heat transfer coefcient of the twisted oval tubes increases with

Table 2 Analysis of the grid system. Grid sizea Average Nu of 2S < l < 3S Numerical simulation 0.8-1 0.5-1 1-1 0.8-1.2 1.2-1
a b

Average f of 2S < l < 3S Experimental resultb 99 99 99 99 99 Tolerance 2.80% 2.38% 3.94% 2.92% 4.85% Numerical simulation 0.0263 0.0268 0.0265 0.0263 0.0266 Experimental resultb 0.0260 0.0260 0.0260 0.0260 0.0260 Tolerance 1.15% 3.08% 1.92% 1.15% 2.31%

101.77 101.36 102.90 101.89 103.80

Grid size ij means the sectional grid size is i and the longitude grid size is j. The experimental result refers to the result calculated from Eqs. (15a) and (15b).

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4707

(a) 16000
14000 12000 h (W/m K)
2

8000 6000 4000 2000 0 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 Re

h (W/m k)

10000

case1-1 case1-2 case1-3 case2-3

(a) 14000
12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 10000 20000 Re 30000 40000 case2-1 case2-2 case2-3 case2-4 case3

(b) 0.045
0.040 0.035 0.030 0.025 case1-1 case1-2 case1-3 case2-3

(b)

0.06 0.05 0.04 0.03

case2-1 case2-3 case3

case2-2 case2-4

0.020 0.015
0.02

10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 Re

10000

20000 Re

30000

40000

Fig. 8. Inuence of a/b on the performance of the twisted oval tubes. (a) Inuence of a/b on heat transfer performance. (b) Inuence of a/b on pressure drop performance.

Fig. 10. Inuence of P on the performance of the twisted oval tubes. (a) Inuence of P on heat transfer performance. (b) Inuence of P on pressure drop performance.

2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 Re case1-1 case1-3 case1-2 case2-3

1.725 1.650 1.575 1.500 1.425 10000 20000 Re

Fig. 11. Inuence of P on the overall performance of the twisted oval tubes.

case2-1 case2-3 case3 30000

case2-2 case2-4 40000

Fig. 9. Inuence of a/b on the overall performance of the twisted oval tubes.

a/b especially when it changes from 2.45 to 3.11. The increment of friction factor can also be found in Fig. 8(b) In order to evaluate the overall performance of the current pipe, Performance evaluation criteria proposed by Webb[26] is applied. It is dened as n = (Nu/Nu0)/(f/f0)1/3, and parameters with a subscript 0 stands for Nu and f of the smooth round tube with dr,i = 20 mm. This factor is essentially the ratio of the heat transfer coefcient of the two tubes on the condition of the same pump cost. The larger n is the better the tubes overall performance becomes. Fig. 9 shows the distribution of n. It can be found that the larger a/b is, the better the oval tube performs.

found that the heat transfer coefcients and friction factors of the twisted oval tubes increases with the decreasing of P. And this increment is distinctive between case 3 and case 2-4 and also between the case 2-1 and case 2-2. Again, the overall performance creation factors of these tubes are analyzed. Fig. 11 shows the variation s of this factor. It can be found that n is not decreasing with the increasing of P exactly, but there also exists a decreasing when P = 150 mm. 3.3. Heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the twisted oval tube 3.3.1. Velocity and temperature distributions of the tubes Stream traces of case 1-1, case 2-3, case 3 and case 2-1 are plotted in Fig. 12. For case 1-1 and case 2-3, the plots are in the range of l = 400600 mm with wi = 1.1 m/s, And for case 3 and case 2-1, the plots are in the range of l = 400500 mm with wi = 1.1 m/s. Slices in this gure are the total velocity distributions of these tubes and details of them can be found in Fig. 13. From Fig. 12, it is clear that there exists no secondary ow in the smooth oval tube. But in the twisted oval tubes, the secondary ow are distinctive, especially in the tubes with A = 28 and B = 9. It exists in the form of spiral ow along the ow direction and it is the same with Yang

3.2.2. Performance of tubes with different P Case 2-1, case 2-2, case 2-3 and case 2-4 are tubes with the sane sectional parameter a = 28 mm and b = 9 mm. But their P is different from each other which are 100 mm, 150 mm, 200 mm and 250 mm, respectively. Case 3 is an oval tube with a = 28 mm, b = 9 mm. It is clear that the smaller the P is, the more serious the tube is twisted. This also would result in an increase of the heat transfer coefcient and friction factor. As expected, from Fig. 10 it can be

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Fig. 12. Stream traces and velocity distribution of twisted oval tubes and oval tube.

(a)

(b)

C e 2Case -1

C e 2-3 Case 3

(c )

(d)

C e 1Case -1

C e3 Cas

Fig. 13. Secondary ow and temperature distributions of case 1-1, case 2-1, case 2-3 and case 3. (a) Secondary ow and temperature distributions of case 1-1, (b) Secondary ow and temperature distributions of case 2-1, (c) Secondary ow and temperature distributions of case 2-3, (d) Secondary ow and temperature distributions of case 3.

et al.s result. By comparing the distributions of case 1-1, case 2-1 and case 2-3, it can be found that the intensity of secondary ow increases with the increasing of a/b and decreases with the increasing of P. Referring to the heat transfer and pressure drop performance of these tubes, it is reasonable to assume that it is the secondary ow that resulted in the heat transfer enhancement. In order to get the details of the heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the twisted oval tube, secondary ow distributions and temperature distributions of case 1-1, case 2-1, case 2-3 and case 3 are plotted in Fig. 13. There exists no secondary ow in case 3. So only the temperature distribution is plotted. In Fig. 13 the line plots are temperature distributions and the vector plots are secondary ow distributions. The magnitudes of secondary ow are illustrated by legends. In order to get the inuence of the second-

ary ow on total velocity and temperature distribution, Fig. 14 also gives out the total velocity distribution of case 1-1, case 2-1, case 2-3 and case 3. All of these distributions are obtained from the ow sections with l = 400 mm and wi = 1.1 m/s. From Fig. 13 it can be found that the secondary ow in case 1-1 and case 3 are different from that in case 2-1 and case 2-3. In case 3 the secondary ow is zero and in case 1-1 it is mostly up and down and vertical with the major axis. But in case 2-1 and case 2-3, the secondary ow is much more different and it exists in the form of spiral ow along the tube axis. Vortex can also be found in the center of the ow section. This difference is inuenced from the special geometric characteristics of the twisted oval tubes. Geometrically, the ow section of the twisted oval tube is twisted along the axis of the tube. But also it can be found that the ow

X.-h. Tan et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 55 (2012) 47014710

4709

(a)

(b)

Case C e 2-1

Case 2-3

(c)

(d)

Case C e 1-1

ase 3 Ca

Fig. 14. Total velocity distributions of case 1-1, case 2-1, case 2-3 and case 3 (a) Total velocity distributions of case 1-1, (b) Total velocity distributions of case 2-1, (c) Total velocity distributions of case 2-3, (d) Total velocity distributions of case 3.

channel becomes wider in the horizontal direction but narrower in vertical direction rstly, and then it becomes narrower in the horizontal direction but wider in vertical direction. This alteration of the ow channel repeats along the axis of the channel continuously but not abruptly. By comparing the secondary ow of case 1-1, case 2-1 and case 2-3, it can be found that the secondary ow in case 11 is weak. Also it is clear that a/b is small. The variations of channel width in horizontal direction and vertical direction are both slow in case 1-1. This kind of variation cannot form a spiral ow but only causes the uid owing up and down. However, in case 2-1 and 23 a/b is big, the variations of channel width in horizontal direction and vertical direction are fast, the secondary ow in case 2-1 and case 2-3 are also strong and spiral ows are formed. From the plots in Fig. 13 and Fig. 14 the inuence of the secondary ow on the distributions of total velocity and temperature can be obtained. It can be found that the emergence of secondary ow causes the total velocity distribution to be different from case 3, In Fig. 14(d) it is clear that the total velocity distribution of case 3 is regular and can be assumed to be concentric ellipses. However, this does not happen in case 1-1, case 2-1 and case 2-3, these concentric ellipses are interrupted by the secondary ow in these tubes. In Fig. 14(c) it also can be found that in case 1-1 this interruption is not as remarkable as case 2-1 and case 2-3. It is because that the secondary ow in case 1-1 is weak. By analyzing the temperature distributions of case 1-1, case 2-1 and case 2-3, similar phenomena can be found. By comparing the velocity distributions with temperature distributions of the same case, it also can be found that the proles of the two line plots are almost the same. 3.3.2. Analysis from eld synergy principle Although velocity and temperature distributions of the twisted oval tubes have been obtained and the inuence of secondary ow is clear. But how these distributions effects on heat transfer coefcient is still not clear. By expressing the convection term in the energy conservation equation to the dot product of velocity vector and temperature gradient:

(a)89.4
89.2 89.0 88.8 88.6 88.4 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 Re
case 2-1 case 2-4 case 2-2 case 3 case 2-3

case1-1 case 1-3

case 1-2 case 2-3

(b) 91.0
90.5 90.0 89.5 89.0 88.5 88.0 87.5 87.0 86.5 0 10000 20000 Re
Fig. 15. Field synergy analysis of twisted oval tubes (a) Inuence of a/b on synergy angle h. (b) Inuence of P on synergy angle h.

30000

40000

50000

@ uT @ v T @ wT U rT jU jjrT jcosh @x @y @z

23

Guo et al. [27] proposed that the heat transfer performance is not only related to the velocity and temperature prole. But also had something to do with the angle between velocity vector and temperature gradient, and this angle was known as synergy angle. From the formula, it was clear that the heat transfer process can be enhanced by decreasing the synergy angle. It was termed eld synergy principle [28]. This concept was extended to elliptic ow by both theoretical analysis and numerical computations in 2002 [2930]. After that, this principle was further conrmed by many experimental

and numerical studies. And a novel type of heat transfer tube had also proposed based on this principle [31]. In order to further understand the mechanism of heat transfer enhancement of the twisted oval tubes in terms of eld synergy principle, the ow eld, temperature gradient and also the synergy angle of these twisted oval tubes are calculated and presented in Fig. 15. By comparing the trend of Nu in Fig. 8(a) and Fig. 10(a) with the trend of the synergy angle in Fig. 15, it is seen that the order of the Nu corresponds to that of the synergy angle. The smaller the synergy angle is, the larger the Nu is. This is consistent with the eld synergy principle. In other words, the secondary ow caused by the special geometric character of the twisted oval tube changes the velocity and temperature distributions. And then, the synergy angle between velocity vector and temperature gradient is reduced and the heat transfer is enhanced. This can explain how the change of velocity distribution and temperature distribution inuence on the heat transfer performance. So the heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the twisted oval tube can be summarized as: The emergence of the twist in the twisted oval tube results in secondary

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X.-h. Tan et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 55 (2012) 47014710 [3] B.V. Dzyubenko, P.A. Urbonas, L.A. Ashmantas, Interchannel mixing of heat carriers in a bundle of spiral tubes, J. Eng. Phys. Thermophys. 45 (1) (1984) 729733. [4] B.V. Dzyubenko, V.N. Stetsyuk, Effect of ow-twisting intensity on the mixing of a heat-transfer agent in bundles of twisted oval tubes, J. Eng. Phys. Thermophys. 55 (5) (1989) 11951200. [5] B.V. Dzyubenko, L.V. Ashamantas, M.D Segal, Modeling and design of twisted tube heat exchanger, Begell House Inc., New York, 2000. pp. 7083. [6] B.V. Dzyubenko, Heat exchanger along the initial segment in a heat exchanger with a helical ow, J. Eng. Phys. Thermophys 42 (2) (1982) 153157. [7] B.V. Dzyubenko, Estimation of the thermo hydraulic efciency of heat exchanging apparatuses with twisted tubes, Heat Transf. Res. 37 (4) (2006) 349363. [8] V.M. Levlev, E.K. Kalinin, I.I. Danilov, B.V. Dzyubenko, G.A. Dreitser, Heat transfer in the turbulent swirling ow in a channel of complex shape. Heat transfer 1982; Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference, Washington D C: Hemisphere Publishing Corperation, vol. 3 (1982) 171-176. [9] B.V. Dzyubenko, Drag in heat exchanger with a twisted ow, J. Eng. Phys. Thermophys 44 (3) (1983) 237241. [10] B.V. Dzyubenko, G.A. Dreitser, Heat transfer and uid friction in bundles of twisted tubes, J. Eng. Phys. Thermophys 50 (6) (1986) 611618. [11] A. Mushabbab, Design and operate a fouling monitoring device to study fouling at twisted tube King Fahd University of petroleum & minerals, Dhahran (2007) 96135. [12] L.A. Asmantas, M.A. Nemira, V.V. Trilikauskas, Coefcients of heat transfer and hydraulic drag of a twisted oval tube, Heat Transf.-Sov. Res. 17 (4) (1985) 103 109. [13] Q. Si, Q. Xia, L.H. Liang, D.X. Li, Investigation of heat transfer and ow resistance on twisted tube heat exchanger, Journal of Chemical Industry and Engineering (in Chinese) 46(5) (1995) 601608. (in Chinese). [14] X.N. Gao, H.C. Zou, D.Y. Wang, Y.S. Lu, Heat transfer and ow resistance properties in twisted oblate tube with large twist ratio, J. South China Univ. Tech. (Natural Science Edition) 36 (11) (2008) 1721. in Chinese. [15] S. Yang, L. Zhang, H. Xu, Experimental study on convective heat transfer and ow resistance characteristics of water ow in twisted elliptical tubes, Appl. Thermal Eng. 31 (2011) 29812991. [16] X.N. Gao, H.B. Yin, Y.Y. Huang, Y.T. Fang, Z.G. Zhang, Nucleate pool-boiling enhancement outside a horizontal bank of twisted tubes with machined porous surface, Appl. Thermal Eng 29 (2009) 32123217. [17] J.A. Meng, Z.X. Li, Z.Y. Guo, S. Wei, Simulation and analysis on laminar ow and heat transfer in twisted ellipse-tube, J. Eng. Thermophys. 23 (2002) 117120 (in Chinese). [18] F. Bishara, M.A. Jog, R.M. Manglik, Computational simulation of swirl enhanced ow and heat transfer in a twisted oval tube, J. Heat Transfer 131 (2009). 080902-1. [19] R.J. Moffat, Using uncertainty analysis in the planning of an experiment, J. Fluids Eng. 107 (2) (1985) 173178. [20] S.J. Kline, F.A. McClintock, Describing uncertainties in single-sample experiment, ASME Mech. Eng. 75 (1953) 38. [21] T.H. Shih, W.W. Liou, A. Shabbir, Z.G. Yang, J. Zhu, A new k-e eddy viscosity model for high Reynolds number turbulent ows, Comput. Fluids 24 (3) (1995) 227238. [22] Fluent 6.3 Users Guide. [23] T.J. Barth, D.C. Jespersen, The design and application of upwind schemes on unstructured meshes, AIAA Paper 89 (366) (1989) 112. [24] B.E. Launder, D.B. Spalding, The numerical computation of turbulent ows, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 3 (1974) 269289. [25] A.J. Chorin, Numerical solution of NavierStokes equations, Math. Comput. (22) (1968) 745762. [26] R.L. Webb, Performance evaluation criteria for use of enhanced heat transfer surface in heat exchanger design, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 4 (24) (1981) 715 726. [27] Z.Y. Guo, D.Y. Li, B.X. Wang, A novel concept for convective heat transfer enhancement, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 41 (14) (1998) 22212225. [28] Z.Y. Guo, W.Q. Tao, R.K. Shah, The eld synergy (coordination) principle and its applications in enhancing single phase convective heat transfer, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 48 (2005) 17971807. [29] W.Q. Tao, Z.Y. Guo, B.X. Wang, Field synergy principle for enhancing convective heat transfer-its extension and numerical verications, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 45 (2002) 38493856. [30] W.Q. Tao, Y.L. He, Q.W. Wang, Z.G. Qu, F.Q. Song, A unied analysis on enhancing single phase convective heat transfer with eld synergy principle, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 45 (2002) 48714879. [31] W.L. Chen, K.L. Wong, C.T. Huang, Parametric study on the laminar ow in an alternating horizontal or vertical oval cross-section pipe with computational uid dynamics, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 287296.

ow. This secondary ow changes the total velocity and temperature distributions in the tube. Then, the synergy angle between velocity vector and temperature gradient is reduced and the heat transfer process is enhanced.

4. Conclusion In this investigation, an experimental study and a numerical approach have been carried out to obtain the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of the twisted oval tube. The effects of the geometrical parameters on the heat transfer and pressure drop performance of the twisted oval tube is analyzed. Flow characteristics and heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the twisted oval tube have also been analyzed. At last the eld synergy principle is applied to analyze the inuence of secondary ow which is caused by the twist of the tube. The major ndings are as follow: An experimental system for testing the heat transfer and pressure drop performance of the twisted oval tube has been set up. And its reliability has also been veried with a smooth round tube. The experimental study of the twisted oval tube shows that heat transfer performance can be enhanced but also with an increasing of pressure drop. The effects of geometric parameters on the performance of twisted oval tube have been analyzed. The numerical results show that the heat transfer coefcient and friction factor both increase with the increasing of a/b, but decrease with the increasing of P. Thats because the atter an oval ow section becomes, the more drastic the inuence of the geometric boundary is. And the slighter an oval tube is twisted, the weaker the inuence of the geometric boundary is. Flow velocity and temperature distributions of the ow sections of case 1-1 case 2-1 case 2-3 and case 3 have also been comparatively analyzed. The result shows that there exists secondary ow in the twisted oval tubes. It exists in the form of spiral ow in case2-1and case2-3, but in the form of up and down in case1-1. This secondary ow changes the total velocity and temperature distribution to be different from a smooth oval tube. And causes the heat transfer coefcient and pressure drop both higher than the smooth round tube. Field synergy analysis reveals that the secondary ow effects in the form of decreasing the angle between the velocity vector and temperature gradient. From the energy conservation equation, it can be found that the convective heat transfer can be enhanced by decreasing of the synergy angle. So it is reasonable to assume the heat transfer mechanism of the twisted oval tube as: The emergence of twist in the twisted oval tube causes secondary ow. This secondary ow changes the velocity and temperature distributions in the twisted oval tubes. Then, the synergy angle between velocity vector and temperature gradient is reduced and then the convective heat transfer process is enhanced. References
[1] R.W. Serth, Process Heat Transfer Principles and Application, New York: Elsevier Science & Technology Books (2007) 246261. [2] B.V. Dzyubenko, Investigation of the transfer properties of a stream in a heat exchanger with spiral tubes, J. Eng. Phys. Thermophys. 38 (6) (1981) 589 593.