Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 28–34

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Heat transfer performance of epoxy resin Flows in a horizontal twisted

tube
Yan Wanbo ⇑, Gao Xuenong, Xu Wendong, Ding Cong, Luo Zigeng, Zhang Zhengguo
Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology,
Guangzhou 510640, China

h i g h l i g h t s

The heat transfer coefficient of twisted tube was greater than that of plain tube.

Heat transfer coefficient was positively related to the Reynolds number.

Both twist ratio and short-long diameter ratio had an impact on the heat transfer.

The major factor affecting heat transfer was the short-long diameter ratio.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Usually, heat transfer coefficient of a high-viscosity fluid is very low at a small Reynolds number to avoid
Received 3 February 2017 a huge pressure drop. Using twisted tube is an effect way to improve its heat transfer performance with-
Revised 31 July 2017 out obviously increasing its pressure drop. In this study, the heat transfer performance of epoxy resin,
Accepted 2 August 2017
which is a kind of high-viscosity fluid, flowing in horizontal twisted tubes with different short-long-
Available online 3 August 2017
diameter ratios and twist ratios, was investigated. The impacts of Reynolds number, short-long-
diameter ratios and twist ratios on heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops were discussed. The
Keywords:
experimental results revealed that horizontal twisted tubes were commendable enhanced tubes for
Epoxy resin
Twisted tube
improving the heat transfer performance of the high-viscosity fluid. In addition, compared with twist
Heat transfer coefficient ratios, the short-long-diameter ratios played a more significant role in heat transfer performance and
Pressure drop pressure drop.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction removed in time to ensure a stable reaction process. Obviously,

The viscosity of fluid mainly affects the heat transfer process
due to its influence on the flow pattern. Given the same inlet flow
of fluid, different viscosity results in different flow pattern like tur-
bulence or laminar. A considerable difference can be caused in the
heat transfer performance of fluid due to different flow patterns.
Generally, high viscosity fluids include lubricant, heavy oil, poly-
mer glue solution, etc.
Heat transfer of high viscosity fluids are involved in many
industries, such as food production, petrochemical industry, and
machinery. Food with high-viscosity requires heating so as to real-
ize sterilization and disinfection. Mechanical transmission is in
need of lubricant with high-viscosity to maintain optimum run-
ning state. Heat produced by polymerizations still should be
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ywb0023@126.com (W. Yan).
the heat transfer of high-viscosity fluids is of great important.
However, the heat transfer performance is hindered by low heat
transfer rate and large pressure drop.
So far, the types of enhanced heat transfer tubes suitable for
high-viscosity fluid mainly consist of spirally fluted tube,
converging-diverging tube, corrugated tube, inner fined tube and
twisted tube, etc. In 1976, Srinivasan et al. [1] and Pethkool et al.
[2] studied the heat transfer enhancement of flow inside the heli-
cally fluted tube. Sparrow et al. [3] reported the numerical solution
for laminar flow in a converging-diverging tube with experimental
verification. Tan et al. [4] used twisted tube to improve the tube
side heat transfer coefficient of a heat exchanger and decrease its
shell side pressure drop. Meng et al. [5] described an alternating
elliptical axis (AEA) tube, a new augmentation method for convec-
tive heat transfer, in which the thermal boundary layer of 22#
lubricating oil was periodically disrupted. Yang et al. [6] studied
the turbulent heat transfer and flow resistance characteristics of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.08.013
1359-4311/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 W. Yan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 28–34
Nomenclature
ri inner radius of twisted tube corresponding to smooth
tube, m
ro outer radius of twisted tube corresponding to smooth
tube, m
de equivalent diameter, m
l tube length of test section, m
A long diameter of twisted tube, mm
B short diameter of twisted tube, mm
R short-long diameter ratio
S twist ratio
Cph specific heat of epoxy resin, J/(kg°C)
Cpc specific heat of cooling water, J/(kg°C)
Vh flowrate of epoxy resin, m3/s
Vc flowrate of cooling water, m3/s
Ti inlet temperature of epoxy resin, °C
To outlet temperature of epoxy resin, °C
ti inlet temperature of cooling water, °C
to outlet temperature of cooling water, °C
t wi average wall temperature inside test section, °C
t wo average wall temperature outside test section, °C
spiral groove tubes with different groove depth, pitch and helix
angle with water and oil as heat transfer working fluid. Experi-
ments showed that compared with the plain tube, the heat transfer
of the tube side was enhanced by 30–120%, and the coefficient of
friction was increased by 60–160%.
Inserts are essential augmentation tools employed to improve
heat transfer rate so as to avoid the replacement of the whole heat
exchanger. The research progress of insert devices developed in
past decades was reviewed by Dewan et al. [7] and Liu et al. [8].
At present, only the twisted tapes and coiled wires have been
widely applied.
Agarwal et al. [9] tested the impacts of twisted tapes with dif-
ferent twist ratios on the heat transfer efficiency of oil inside the
tube, and the results indicated that the friction factor (f) and the
Nusselt number (Nu) increased with the decrease of the twist ratio,
as well as the f increased compared with a plain tube. Al-Fahed
et al. [10] took both twist ratio and tape width into account. It
was proved that the twist ratio was the key factor affecting heat
transfer performance of fluid in tubes, and the heat transfer effi-
ciency could be improved by increasing the width. However, along
with the increase of heat transfer enhancement by using twisted
tape inserts, pressure drop rises significantly. To reduce the pres-
sure drop caused by displaced inserts, researchers began to con-
sider using piecewise twisted tape to replace consecutive one,
because strong vortex effect caused by twisted tape in a short dis-
tance flow process will not dissipate quickly. For regularly spaced
twisted tape elements, Saha et al. [11] investigated heat transfer
and pressure drop characteristic of viscous oil in the plain tube.
The results showed that plain tube with regularly spaced twisted
tape inserts had better integrated heat transfer effect compared
with the plain tube with full-length twisted tapes.
Another way to increase the heat transfer performance with
less pressure loss is to displace coiled wires in tubes. Uttarwar
et al. [12] investigated seven wire-coil-inserted tubes by using Ser-
votherm medium grade oil as test fluid. It was showed that the
laminar flow heat transfer coefficient increased fourfold.
Akhavan-Behabadi et al. [13] studied the heat transfer and flow
performances of an engine oil in a plain tube and seven tubes with
coiled wire inserts with pitches of 12–69 mm and wire diameters
of 2.0 mm or 3.5 mm. Compared with the plain tube, the coil
29
Tm the mean bulk temperature of fluid inside-tube, °C
tm the mean bulk temperature of cooling water, °C
DP pressure drop of fluid, kPa
P pitch of twisted tube, mm
Qh inside-tube heat flux, W
Qc outside tube heat flux, W
Q average heat flux, W
K overall heat transfer coefficient, W/(m2K)
Re Reynolds number
Pr prandtl number
Nu nusselt number
f friction factor
Greek letters
qh density of epoxy resin, kg/m3
qc density of cooling water, kg/m3
kw thermal conductivity of the tube, W/m2K
ai heat transfer coefficient inside the tube, W/(m2K)
inserts had little impact on the fanning friction when the Reynolds
number was below 500. But it was also suggested coil inserts with
lower wire diameters have better performance at low Reynolds
numbers.
Two or more heat transfer augmentation methods were com-
bined together in order to achieve better heat transfer perfor-
mance. Under an applied electric field, Liu et al. [14] inserted a
helical steel wire coil into the plain tube to study the heat transfer
and flow resistance of 15# lubricating oil. Single external electric
field could destabilize the thermal boundary layer but could not
break laminar flow due to oil is a viscous fluid. Although the com-
bined enhancement technology is an effective way to improve heat
transfer performance, the cost of additional device and energy also
should be taken into consideration.
Several researchers have studied heat transfer performances of
high-viscosity fluid by the combination of shell side supporting
structure and enhanced tube. For example, Zhang et al. [15] com-
bined helically baffled with a petal-shaped finned tube to study
the heat transfer process of high-viscosity oil (ISO VG-32). The
results indicated that the overall heat transfer coefficient of the
petal-shaped finned tube with helical baffles was 4–5 times than
that of a plain tube with bow baffles. Similar researches were con-
ducted by Ibrahim [16], Zimparov [17,18], Promvonge et al. [19],
and Bharadwaj et al. [20], etc.
Obviously, in these studies, oil was mainly selected as the high-
viscosity fluid. However, a lot of industrial processes will deal with
other higher viscosity fluids. Vicente et al. [21] investigated the
effect of bellows pitch and waveform height on the heat transfer
coefficient and pressure drop of ethylene glycol under laminar
flow. The results obtained are of significance for the future opti-
mized design of bellows. García et al. [22] conducted heat transfer
experiments with three different working fluids, such as water,
propylene glycol, and mixture of water and propylene glycol with
equal mass ratio. At 20 °C and 50 °C, these working fluids were dri-
ven into the tube with coil inserts. It was also verified by previous
researches [23,24] that the twisted tube, which is an effective tube
type for heat transfer enhancement but the quantificational study
is far from adequacy, is suitable for heat transfer enhancement of
flow with low Reynolds and high Prandtl number. Moreover,
twisted tubes are able to support each other with point to point
30 W. Yan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 28–34

contact to provide a better anti-seismic function and lower shell-
side pressure drop for heat exchangers.
In this paper, epoxy resin (viscosity is about 200–2000 Pas) was
chosen as test fluid flowing in the twisted tubes, and the heat
transfer performance and pressure drop of the epoxy resin flowing
in horizontal twisted tubes with different short-long-diameter
ratios and twist ratios, were investigated.
2.2. Structure of the twisted tubes
In the experiment, 9 twisted copper tubes and a plain one (No.
0) were tested respectively. The structural parameters of the tested
tubes were listed in Table 1.
2.3. Physical properties of the epoxy resin

The non-solvent epoxy resin (EP CYD-128) produced by Sinopec

2. Experiment
2.1. Experimental apparatus
As shown in Fig. 1, the experimental set-up mainly consists of
double-pipe heat exchanger, mixing tank, screw pump, water
pump, data logger and computer system, etc. During the experi-
ment, the epoxy resin was heated to a set temperature in the mix-
ing tank, then it was pumped into the twisted tube to conducted
heat exchange process with the cooling water in the annulus of
the double-pipe heat exchanger and the cooled epoxy resin was
returned to the mixing tank. The flowrate of the epoxy resin was
measured by an oval gear flowmeter, while that of the cooling
water was measured by two flowmeters with different ranges in
adaptation to the flowrate variation. The inlet and outlet pressure
drop of the epoxy resin was tested by differential pressure trans-
mitter. T-type thermocouples distributed in the system were rep-
resented by ‘‘” in Fig. 1 for measuring the temperatures of the
epoxy resin, inlet and outlet of cooling water, and the wall of the
twisted tube. All signals from the differential pressure transmitters
and the T-type thermocouples were collected by the data logger at
a scanning interval of 10 s and the average values were obtained
within 15 min.
was used as the high-viscosity working fluid in this experiment, of
which the density, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and
viscosity were characterized in Table 2.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Reliability of the experimental system
In order to verify the reliability of the experimental and data
processing system, the heat transfer performance of water in the
plain tube was tested before the experiment with epoxy resin.
Water in the mixing tank was heated up to 50 °C and pumped into
the tube, then cooled by water in the annulus. By measuring hot
and cooling water flowrates, their inlet and outlet temperatures,
and the temperatures of the tube wall, the heat transfer coefficient
inside the tube can be obtained by:
Qh
ai ¼ ð1Þ
p  de  l  ðT m  twi Þ
where twi was calculated by cylindrical wall heat conduction Eq. (2)
with the average wall temperature t w0 of four test points at tube
outside wall:

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of experimental system: (1) mixing tank, (2) screw pump, (3) oval gear flowmeter, (4) double-pipe heat exchanger, (5) pressure difference
transmitter, (6)-(7) flowmeter, (8) water pump, (9) water tank, (10) computer, (11) data logger.

Table 1
Structural parameters of the test tubes.

No. Original tube/mm Long diameter A/mm Short diameter B/mm Short-long diameter ratio R = B/A Pitch p/mm Twist ratio S = p/d Tube length /mm
0# U19  1.5 16.0 16.0 1.00 – – 800
1# 19.8 9.4 0.47 300 18.75
2# 21.2 7.0 0.33 200 12.50
3# 19.8 9.4 0.47 200 12.50
4# 21.8 5.8 0.27 300 18.75
5# 21.2 7.0 0.33 400 25.00
6# 21.2 7.0 0.33 300 18.75
7# 21.8 5.8 0.27 400 25.00
8# 19.8 9.4 0.47 400 25.00
9# 21.8 5.8 0.33 200 12.50
 W. Yan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 28–34 31

Table 2
Physical properties of the epoxy resin at different temperature.

Temperature (°C) Thermal conductivity (W/(mK)) Specific heat capacity (kJ/(kgK)) Viscosity (cP) Density (kg/m3)
30 0.17 1.87 4056 1160
40 0.18 1.89 1278 1160
50 0.20 1.91 556.8 1160
60 0.22 1.94 262.8 1160
70 0.24 1.96 131.4 1160
80 0.27 1.97 68.7 1160

Inðr o =r i Þ Then, the equivalent diameter de of the twisted tube can be

t wi ¼ Q  þ t wo ð2Þ
2  p  kw  l calculated:
And Q h was the inside-tube heat flux that can be express as: 4S AB
de ¼ ¼4 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð9Þ
Q h ¼ V h qh C ph ðT i  T o Þ ð3Þ C 2 2
AþB
2
þ A þB2

The outside tube heat flux can also be written as: The results were compared with Dittus-Boelter correlation as
Q c ¼ V c qc C pc ðt i  t o Þ ð4Þ shown in Fig. 2. It can be observed that the experimental results
for the plain tube are consistent with that of the Dittus-Boelter cor-
Thus, the average heat flux was calculated using relation and the maximum relative error is less than 15.92%, which
Qh þ Qc indicates the reliability of the experimental system.
Q¼ ð5Þ
2
3.2. Uncertainty analysis
The mean bulk temperature (T m ) of the fluid inside tube was calcu-
lated as follow:
The inlet and outlet temperature of the shell side, flowrate and
Ti þ To the wall temperature of the tube were measured to calculate the
Tm ¼ ð6Þ
2 convection heat transfer coefficient of epoxy resin. Since there is
The cross section of a twisted tube is an ellipse, its area is: a measurement error for each single variable and these errors
accumulate in the operation, so the following equation [26] was
S¼pAB ð7Þ used to calculate the uncertainties.
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where the A and B are half - long axis and half - short axis of an  2  2  2
ellipse. The ellipse circumference was calculated by an approximate @y @y @y
ry ¼ dx21 þ dx22 þ    þ dx2n ð10Þ
formula in Ref. [25]: @x1 @x2 @xn
0 sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi1
where y is the derived quantity, x is the measured quantity and dx is
AþB A2 þ B2 A
C ¼p@ þ ð8Þ the error involved in the measured quantity. The experimental
2 2 instruments used in the process and its error columns are listed
in Table 3 and the maximum uncertainty of the heat transfer coef-
ficients calculated by Eq. (10) is less than 2.04%.

3.3. Heat transfer enhancement of epoxy resin in twisted tubes

Fig. 3 demonstrates how the heat transfer coefficient of the

Fig. 2. Comparison of experimental results for the plain tube with Dittus-Boelter
correlation.
epoxy resin varies with Reynolds number in different twisted
tubes. The heat transfer enhancement multiples (the ratio of heat
transfer coefficient for twisted tube to that of plain tube, a=as )
are displayed in Fig. 4.
As shown in Fig. 3, while the Reynolds number (Re) ranging
from 20 to 120, the heat transfer coefficient of the twisted tubes,
which increases with Re increasing, was much greater than that
of the plain tube, because the epoxy resin flowed in a spiral way
with second flow emerged and flow boundary layer destroyed as
the speed and direction were periodically changed by the centrifu-
gal force in twisted tubes. Moreover, as the Re increases, the turbu-
lent intensity presents an increasing trend, which further
improved the heat transfer coefficient. From Figs. 3 and 4, it also

Table 3
Experimental measurement equipment and their errors.

Measuring tools/equipment Quantity measured Range Maximum absolute error

Copper – constantan thermocouple Temperature – 0.01 °C
Oval gear flowmeter Flow 200–2000 L/h 1 L/h
Glass rotor flowmeter Flow 0–1000 L/h 2 L/h
Meters Effective length of heat transfer tube 0–1000 mm 1 mm
Vernier caliper Diameter of the heat transfer tube 0–130.0 mm 0.02 mm
32 W. Yan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 28–34
Fig. 3. Heat transfer coefficients vs. Reynolds numbers in different tested tubes.
Fig. 4. Heat transfer enhancement multiples vs. Reynolds numbers in different
tested tubes.
can be seen that the heat transfer coefficients for the twisted tubes,
ranking as 9#, 7#, 4#, 2#, 6#, 5#, 3#, 1#, and 8#, were sorted into
three groups. Obviously, the discrepancies among different groups
are greater than that in each group. In each group, the short-long
diameter ratios (R) are the same while the twist ratios (S) are dif-
ferent. At this point, we can speculate that R has a greater effect
on the heat transfer performance than S. Tube 9# was outstanding
with the largest heat transfer coefficient arrived 750 W/(m2K) in
the experimental ranges.
In Fig. 4, the heat transfer enhancement multiples are negative
related to the Reynolds numbers. This reveals that the heat transfer
enhancement effect of the twisted tubes is weaken by increasing
the Re. Thus, the twisted tube was desirable for enhancing heat
transfer of high viscosity fluid at low Reynolds number. Similar
to the phenomena shown in Fig. 3, the heat transfer enhancement
multiples were also classified into three series, and 9#, 7# and 4#
twisted tubes performed fairly well with a=as more than 2.0.
3.3.1. Effects of twist ratio (S) on the heat transfer performance of
epoxy resin
Viewed in Fig. 4, for the same short-long diameter ratio
(R = 0.47), the twist ratios of the tested tubes are 12.5, 18.75 and
25. The descending order of the heat transfer coefficients were
shown as 3#, 1#, 8# while the twist ratios were ordered in an
opposite trend. From Fig. 3, it is seen that when a lower twist ratio
is chosen, the heat transfer coefficient will approach to a higher
value. Besides, in the same figure, no significant difference among
the curve shapes is observed, which implies that the twist ratio has
a slight impact on the heat transfer process. All these presented
phenomena could be attributed to the spiral flowing state of the
epoxy resin in the twisted tube and the separation of boundary
layer. Specifically, the lower the twist ratio was, the more frequent
the separation of boundary layer, which would further lead to full
development of the heat transfer boundary layers, hence, the
higher the heat transfer rate would be. In Fig. 4, when the short-
long diameter ratios are the same, the values of a=as are all above
1, and there is minor increase in a=as for the tube with a different
twist ratio.
3.3.2. Effects of short-long diameter ratio (R) on the heat transfer
performance of epoxy resin
For the tested tubes with the same twist ratio (S = 25) and dif-
ferent short-long diameter ratios of 0.47 (8#), 0.33 (5#) and 0.27
(7#), the relation of the heat transfer coefficients and Reynolds
numbers was demonstrated in Fig. 3. Sorted as 7#, 5#, and 8#,
the heat transfer coefficients are greatly different from each other,
which of 7# was above 700 W/(m2K) while 8# below 550 W/
(m2K), indicating that R would apparently affect the heat transfer
rate. For the same Re, when R decrease and the equivalent diameter
decrease, leading to the increase of the flow rate, the heat transfer
can be enhanced.
It can be seen from Fig. 4 that, for 5#, 7# and 8#, as the Re
increases, there is a slight decline in a=as . The reason was that
the heat transfer coefficients of the plain tube increased faster than
that of the twisted tubes, and the turbulent intensity in twisted
tubes was higher than that in plain one with the same Reynolds
number.
3.4. Pressure drop of the epoxy resin in twisted tubes
Fig. 5 demonstrates how the pressure drop of the epoxy resin
varies with Reynolds number in different twisted tubes, and the
pressure drop multiples (the ratio of pressure drop for twisted tube
to that for plain tube, DP=Ps ) are shown in Fig. 6.
Viewed in Fig. 6, pressure drop (DP) in each twisted tube, which
are greater than that in the plain tube, increases corresponding to
the increase of the Reynolds number. At the same Re, the descend-
ing order of pressure drop from big to small is 9#, 4#, 7#, 2#, 6#,
5#, 3#, 1#, 8#, and 0#. The pressure drops in twisted tubes are
obviously sorted into three groups: the first group is 9#, 4#, and
7#, the second is 2#, 6#, and 5#, and the last is 3#, 1#, and 8#.
The R of the first group is 0.27, the second is 0.33, and the third
is 0.47. The pressure drops among different groups are quite big,
while the discrepancies among different tubes in the same group
are very small. This implies that, compared with the twist ratio,
short-long diameter ratio has a more significant effect on the pres-
sure drop in these twisted tubes. Pressure drop multiples for each
Fig. 5. Pressure drops vs. Reynolds numbers in different tested tubes.
 W. Yan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 28–34 33

Fig. 7. Comparison of Nu between correlation and experimental results.

Fig. 6. Pressure drop multiples vs. Reynolds numbers in different tested tubes.

twisted tube with the same Reynolds numbers is given in Fig. 6.

When Re increases from 42 to 70, there is a first-quick-then-slow
decline in DP=Ps for different twisted tubes with the same R. In
addition, DP=Ps of 9# is the largest with its value about 6.68–
8.55. Compared with plain tube, although at small Reynolds num-
bers, pressure drop in twisted tube decreases quickly and turbulent
intensity is already high due to the spiral passage of the twisted
tubes while Reynolds number rising. Increasing Reynolds number
does little effect on turbulent intensity, while turbulence of flow
in plain tube improves considerably.

3.4.1. Influence of S on pressure drop of epoxy resin

For the tested tubes with the same short-long diameter ratio
(R = 0.47) and different twist ratios of 12.5 (3#), 18.75 (1#) and
25 (8#), the relation of the pressure drop and Reynolds numbers
is presented in Fig. 5. Tested tubes with their heat transfer coeffi-
Fig. 8. Comparison of f between correlation and experimental results.
cients ranging from high to low along with the increasing twist
ratio are presented as 3#, 1#, and 8#. It is seen that, the smaller
the twist ratio is, the larger pressure drop in the twisted tube is. The fitted values of Nu and f are shown in Figs. 7 and 8, respec-
It occurred because that under a small twist ratio, epoxy resin tively. From these figures, it can be observed that the fitted data of
inside tube could change its flow direction more frequently and Nu and f are in good agreement with the experimental results, and
produce a large centrifugal force inducing the fluid mixing, rubbing relative errors are within 2.25% and 12.65%.
and crashing, consequently energy loss was bigger. Little discrep-
ancies among the values of DP=P s in the same R tubes (3#, 1#,
4. Conclusion
and 8#) are visible.
The heat transfer performances and pressure drops obtained by
3.4.2. Influence of R on pressure drop of epoxy resin
testing different types of twisted tubes were presented in this
Fig. 5 shows pressure drop of the epoxy resin varies with Rey-
study, where epoxy resin was used as the test fluid. The findings
nolds number in different twisted tubes, while the twist ratio of
of this work could be concluded as follows:
all tested tubes are 25, and the short-long diameter ratios are
0.47, 0.33 and 0.27 respectively. Sorted as 7#, 5#, and 8#, the big-
(1) The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of the
gest pressure drop is in tube 7#, whose short-long diameter ratio is
twisted tubes, which increased as the increase of Reynolds
the lowest, with the value about 223.26–543.46 kPa. Pressure drop
numbers, was much greater than that of the plain tube.
multiples for 7#, 5#, and 8# are given in Fig. 6 at same Re. Obvi-
The heat transfer enhancement multiples were grouped into
ously, significant discrepancies among the values of DP=P s in differ-
three series, and 9#, 7# and 4# twisted tubes performed
ent tubes (7#, 5#, and 8#) are observed. This indicates that the
fairly well with the value above 2.0. Pressure drop multiples
major factor affecting the pressure drop is the short-long diameter
of 9# was the largest with its value about 6.68–8.55.
ratios.
(2) Pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient are positively
related to the Reynolds number in each twisted tube.
3.5. Correlation of the results Descending order of heat transfer coefficient and pressure
drop is 9#, 4#, 7#, 2#, 6#, 5#, 3#, 1#, 8# and 0#.
The experimental date of Nu and f in twisted tube with different (3) Both twist ratio and short-long diameter ratio had an impact
twist and short-long diameter ratios are correlated as follows: on the heat transfer coefficient. When S and R decreased,
Nu ¼ 82:96Re0:17 Pr0:060 R0:060 S0:047 ðl=lw Þ0:38 ð11Þ heat transfer coefficient would demonstrate an opposite
trend.
(4) Compared with the twist ratio, the major factor affecting the
f ¼ 7:33  1012 Re1:21 Pr 2:31 R0:37 S0:11 ðl=lw Þ1:70 ð12Þ
pressure drop and heat transfer performance was the short-
where Re = 29–115, Pr = 2755–3713, R = 0.27–0.47 and S = 12.5–25. long diameter ratio. Therefore, in order to decrease energy
34 W. Yan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 127 (2017) 28–34
consumption (pump power), we should adopt little lead and
big short-long diameter ratio. But in case of pressure drop
was allowed, decreasing R and S were beneficial to improve
the heat transfer performance.
(5) The values of Nu and f demonstrated a satisfactory correla-
tion between the experimental results and fitted data, and
the relative errors were within 2.52% and 12.65%,
respectively.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (No. U1507201) and the Applied Science and Tech-
nology Projects of Guangdong Province (2016B020243008).
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