Proceedings of the 9th Biennial ASME Conference on Engineering Systems Design and Analysis

ESDA08
July 7-9, 2008, Haifa, Israel

ESDA 2008 59124

A SEMI EMPIRICAL METHODOLOGY FOR PERFORMANCE ESTIMATION OF A

DOUBLE PIPE FINNED HEAT EXCHANGER

G. Arvind Rao1, Yeshyahou Levy2

Turbo and Jet Engine Laboratory, Technion: - Israel Institute of Technology
Haifa 32000, Israel.

ABSTRACT data and correlations available in the literature. It is found that

Finned tubes are one of the most widely used means of
passively enhancing the heat transfer in circular tube. Many
investigators have proposed different correlations for predicting
the performance of such heat exchangers based on their
experimental results. However, the practical usage of such
correlations is limited because of the variety of parameters that
can influence Nusselt number and friction factor. Most of the
correlations either have been developed with limited databases,
or are geometry specific. Using CFD for analyzing performance
of such heat exchangers is very computational intensive and
hence cannot be used for design optimization purposes. On the
other hand, empirical correlations have many limitations in terms
of their applicability.
The objective of the present article is to present a
physically based model for evaluating heat transfer and
frictional loss for an internally and / or externally finned double
pipe heat exchanger that can be applied in a wide range of
operating conditions of practical importance. This paper
describes a simple semi-empirical-numerical methodology to
evaluate heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in a
finned tube heat exchanger with internal and/or external fins.
Conduction and turbulent forced convection are the prominent
modes of heat transfer. In order to resolve the operational
characteristics of double pipe finned heat exchangers, a
numerical methodology is presented which uses well known
existing correlations for flow in a smooth pipe and flow over a
flat plate. The method of successive substitution is used to
solve the problem numerically. The proposed methodology is
applied to some simple cases and the results compare well with
the addition of fins to such double pipe heat exchangers
reduces the Nusselt Number; however the corresponding heat
transfer rate increases owing to the increase in the overall heat
transfer per unit area.
Keywords: Double Pipe Heat Exchanger, Heat Transfer,
Internally Finned Tubes, Externally Finned Tubes
1. INTRODUCTION
Finned tubes are one of the most widely used means of
passively enhancing the heat transfer in circular tube (one of
the most widely used heat transfer surface in heat exchangers).
Finned surfaces are applicable where an additional area can be
provided for augmenting the heat transfer. An important
application for such air to air heat exchangers is in the open
regenerated Brayton-cycle [1] and alternative regenerator
configurations [2] of the land based gas-turbine power-plant,
wherein the compressor discharge air is preheated by the high-
temperature exhaust gases. Similarly, such heat exchangers are
used for regeneration in industrial furnaces. The
thermodynamic efficiency of the whole cycle is improved
because air enters the combustor at an elevated temperature,
with out the need for fuel burn and therefore the amount of heat
addition in the combustor is reduced.
Finned tubes are used to reduce the size of a heat
exchanger required for a specified heat duty, or to increase heat
transfer rate of an existing heat exchanger design. An internally
finned tube can provide a significant increase in the surface
area, and can offer an appreciable enhancement of heat transfer

1
Post Doctoral Fellow
2
Corresponding author. Tel.: +972-4-8293807; Fax: +972-4-8121604.
E-mail address: levyy@aerodyne.technion.ac.il (Y. Levy)

1 Copyright © 2008 by ASME

rate [3]. Among several available techniques for augmenting
heat transfer in heat exchanger tubes, the use of fins appear to
be the most promising, as described by Webb [4]. It is evident
that an efficient design of heat exchanger can substantially
increase performance of the entire system.
Finned tubes perform differently depending on whether the
flow is laminar or turbulent. Several studies have been
conducted to investigate the effect of fin characteristics on heat
transfer. For both laminar and turbulent flow regimes, the finned
tubes exhibit substantially higher heat transfer coefficients
when compared with corresponding smooth tubes. The
performance of finned pipe is mainly determined by the type of
flow, fin efficiency (which determines the average heat transfer
coefficient) and the friction factor, which is responsible for
pressure / pumping loss.
1.1 Motivation
Many investigators have proposed different correlations based
on their experimental results [5-9]. But the practical usage of
such correlations is limited because of the variety of parameters
that can influence Nusselt number and friction factor. Most of
the correlations have been developed with either limited
databases, or are geometry specific. Moreover since most of
the experimental test sections are small in length (typically less
than 1m), the temp erature variation within these test sections is
low and therefore the resulting correlations do not take into
account the variation of fluid properties along the test section.
However, when it comes to practical applications of such heat
exchangers, where a large amount of heat is to be extracted, and
length of the heat exchanger can be quite large. Hence, there
may be a substantial change in the fluid temperature along the
tube length and therefore variation of fluid properties can
significantly affect the performance predictions. An additional
motivation for carrying out the present research work is the fact
that in the literature there is information on either internally
finned tubes or externally finned tubes, but there is no
published work on double pipe heat exchangers with both
internal and external fins. Because of the above-mentioned
limitations, the objective of the current research is to develop a
physical model for evaluating heat transfer and frictional loss
for an internally and / or externally finned double pipe heat
exchanger, which can be applied in a wide range of operating
conditions of practical importance.
An additional motivation for present research is that most
of the numerical investigations that have been carried out for
finned pipe heat exchangers have used Computation Fluids
Dynamics with various turbulence models for studying the flow
pattern inside the heat exchanger [10, 11]. Even though such
techniques are quite accurate and give an in-depth physical
understanding of the problem, they are very time consuming,
and hence cannot be used to evaluate performance of the
complete heat exchanger, especially for industrial applications.
Also such techniques can not be used for optimization exercises
where a number of iterations are required before an optimum
design can be achieved. On the other hand, empirical
correlations have many limitations in terms of their applicable
operational range. Hence there is room for a relative quick semi-
empirical methodology to evaluate performance of such heat
exchangers that can also be used in design / optimization
exercises. As mentioned by many authors [12,13], there is
significant scope in optimizing the performance of finned tube
heat exchangers. Schematic of the various fin arrangements
investigated in the present paper is shown in Figure 1.
[a] [b] [c]
Figure 1. Fin arrangement in different types of heat
exchangers,
(a) Internally Finned Pipe
(b) Externally Finned Pipe
(c) Internally and Externally Finned Double Pipe
Heat Exchanger
2. LITERATURE SURVEY
As far as geometry of the internal fins is concerned, most
internal fins are strips with surfaces positioned longitudinally
along the tube axis. Many investigations, both experimental
and numerical, have been conducted on different kinds of
internally finned tubes using a variety of fluids (air, water, oil,
ethylene, etc) [5-15]. These studies examined the overall
performance in terms of circumferentially averaged friction
factors and heat transfer coefficients and examined the effects
of parameters like: number of fins, fin height, fin width, helix
angle, etc. Because of the wide range of fin geometries and
Reynolds numbers covered in their experiments, Jensen and
Vlankancic [9] suggested different governing processes
between ‘‘tall fin’’ and ‘‘micro-fin’’ tubes. While “tall fins” (as
investigated in this paper), are used in industrial furnace,
thermal power plants, etc, the ‘‘micro-fins’’ are generally used
for cooling in electronic equipments. Most of the investigators
obtained an increase in the Nusselt numbers from 15-180% as
compared to the smooth tube. However this increase in heat
transfer is counterbalanced by an increase in friction factor by
50-500 % [9].
Soliman et al. [18] analyzed fully developed laminar flow,
while accounting for conduction in the tube wall and fins but
keeping the outer surface of tube at a constant temperature. A
comprehensive experimental and numerical investigation of
laminar flow was performed by Shome and Jensen [19].
Rectangular fins were implicitly assumed in all these studies.
2 Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Patankar et al. [10] analyzed fully developed turbulent flow and Afn = nominal flow area based on tube ID as if the fins were not
heat transfer characteristics for internally finned tubes and present, mm2
annuli using the mixing length model. The local heat transfer All flow quantities in the above equation are calculated at the
coefficients exhibited a substantial variation along the fin fluid bulk temperature.
height, lowest being at the fin root and highest being at the fin The Carnavos correlation has been subsequently verified
tip. by many investigators like Patankar et al. [10] and Trupp and
Literature survey for heat transfer through pipes by Haine [24]. Edwards et al. [25] experimentally investigated fully
turbulent forced convection portrays that most of the developed turbulent flow in longitudinally finned tubes with
investigators have used finite difference equations of Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) and found that the Carnavos
conservation of energy, x-momentum and continuity equation correlation agreed well with their data (within ±10% accuracy).
and have emphasized on the importance of modelling the However they suggested that a Reynolds number exponent of -
variation in transport properties for realistic results. Bankston 0.25 (instead of -0.2) would be more appropriate for evaluating
and McEligot [20] predicted wall temperature and pressure drop the friction factor.
characteristics for forced internal flows. They used power law
index approximation for modelling variation in fluid transport 2.2 External Fins
properties. Malik & Pletcher [21] and Pletcher & Malik [22] There is a dearth of literature when it comes to investigations in
worked on prediction of turbulent flow heat transfer in annular externally finned annuli. One of the most important works in
geometries with property variations in which they considered this regard is by Braga and Saboya [5]. They performed
the flow as axisymmetric, steady and fully turbulent. experiments to determine heat transfer coefficient and friction
factor for turbulent flow through annular ducts with 20
2.1 Internal Fins continuous longitudinal rectangular fins made of brass. They
Masliyah and Nandakumar [12] have studied heat transfer proposed the following Reynolds number dependent heat
in internally finned tube. The fins were of triangular shape and transfer coefficient (for air).
the number of fins was varied up to 24 and in the length up to h ⋅ Dh
Nu = = 0.00529 Re 0.8680· (104 < Re < 5×104) (3)
0.8 times of the tube radius. Finite element method was used to k
analyze laminar flow in an internally finned circular tube with
uniform axial heat flux around the wall. They conclude that They also proposed the following correlation for evaluating the
Nusselt number based on inside diameter was higher than that friction factor
for a smooth tube without fins. They also found that for f = 2.88467·Re- 0.2863 (104 < Re < 5.2×104) (4)
maximum heat transfer rate, there exists an optimum number of where the pressure drop is evaluated as
fins for a given configuration and application. Liu and Jensen
1 L m& 2
∆P = f ⋅ ⋅ (5)
( )
[23] used an unstructured finite-volume method with a two-layer
2ρ Dh  π 2 
 4 ⋅ D o − ( Di + 2t1 ) 
turbulence model to capture the near-wall turbulence in two 2

spirally finned tubes. The circumferentially averaged friction  

factors and Nusselt numbers compared well with exp erimental
It should be noted that the above mentioned relation
data of Jensen and Vlakancic [9].
between pressure drop and friction factor as used by Braga and
One of the commonly used correlations for internally finned
Saboya is different than the conventionally used relation given
tubes is that by Carnavos [7], who used 21 different types of
below
internally straight finned tubes. For straight longitudinal fins,
 ρ ⋅V 2  L
the correlation is given as, ∆P = 4 ⋅ f ⋅  ⋅ (6)
 2  D
  h
0 .10
A 
0 .4  fa  A 
0 .5
Nu bh = 0.023⋅ Re 0bh.8 ⋅ Prbh ⋅ ⋅  n 
 (1)
A 
 fc   Aa  3. NUMERICAL MODELING
The heat transfer effectiveness of finned pipes depends on
0 .5 factors like the fin conductance, fin dimensions and local heat
 A fa 
Re −bh0. 2⋅   transfer coefficient. The present problem cannot be solved
fh = 0.046 (2)
A  analytically because of the system complexity involving
 fn 
simultaneous conduction and convection processes with
where Aa = actual heat transfer area (mm2/mm); An = nominal heat variation in fluid properties, resulting in a non-linear system.
transfer area (mm2/mm) The schematic of the axial discretization of a double pipe finned
Afa = actual free flow area, mm2; Afc = open core free flow heat exchanger layout is shown in Figure 2. For better
area at fin ID, mm2 understanding and clarity of the posed problem, a 3-dimensional

3 Copyright © 2008 by ASME

view of a small section of the heat exchanger is also shown in Hence, the thermal model comprises of conduction through
Figure 3. walls and fins, and turbulent forced convection at the wall and
fin surfaces.
Annulus
Figure 3 duct wall
The governing equations for combined conduction and
convection model mainly include heat balance equations for the
Annulus Flow (Fluid-2) External F in
discretized core and the annulus duct wall (refer figure 3).
Core duct Equations 7-13 are the heat balance equations for the ith element
wall
of the discretized layout. Within an axially discretized element,
Axis Internal Fin the fluid and wall temperatures are assumed constant. The
Core Flow (Fluid-1)
convection boundary conditions are air inlet temperatures and
pressures, convective heat transfer coefficient, and the wall
conductivity. Steady state forced convection is modelled on
surfaces using the relevant convective heat transfer coefficients
Annulus Flow (Fluid-2) as described later.
External Fin
th
i elemental For the core duct wall, heat input is due to convection from
strip the hot core flow and heat conducted from the inner fins. The
Figure 2 Schematic of the double pipe finned heat heat is then convected out to the cold annulus flow and
exchanger and its discretization. conducted out of the outer fins. Hence, the heat balance
equation for the k th element of core duct wall is written as,
q& cv , IW1 + q& cn, Ifin + q& cv ,OW1 + q& cn,Ofin = 0 (7)
where:
Annulus duct wall q& cv , IW 1 = h IW 1 ⋅ A IW 1 ⋅ (T IW 1 − T FI ) (8.1)

q& cv , OW 1 = h OW 1 ⋅ A OW ⋅ (T OW 1 − T FII ) (8.2)

Outer Fin
In the above equations, h IW1 and h OW1 are the convective
heat transfer coefficients at the core duct wall inner and outer
Cold Annulus
surfaces respectively. There are several correlations available in
flow
literature to evaluate heat transfer coefficient for a flow through
Core duct wall a smooth tube. One of the most widely used such correlation is
(conducting)
the Dittus-Bolter Equation, and is given as [26]
Nu = 0.023 ⋅Re0.8 ⋅Pra (9)
Where, a = 0.4 (if the fluid is being cooled); a = 0.3 (if the fluid
is being heated) and all the variables are evaluated at the bulk
temperature.
Inner Fin
D 
Hence, hIW 1 = 0. 023 ⋅ Re 0F.81 ⋅ PrF0.14⋅  1  , (9.1)
Hot Core
 k F1 
flow
For evaluating heat transfer coefficient in the annulus, (refer to
Eqn.8 & Figure 3) the hydraulic diameter is used for evaluating
Figure 3: Schematic of a segment in double pipe heat the flow Reynolds Number.
exchanger with fins D 
hIWO = 0. 023 ⋅ Re 0h.,8F 2⋅ Pr F0.24 ⋅  h  , (9.2)
 kF2 
ρ ⋅ V ( D − D1 − 2 × tW1 )
3.1 Modeling Heat Transfer where Reh,F2 = F 2 F 2 2 (9.2.1)
As the Nusselt number for both annulus flow and core flow µF 2
is high due to the turbulent flow, temperature variation of the heat transfer by fins (used in Eqn. 7) can be calculated as,
core & annulus duct walls due to axial conduction of duct wall  1 1 
q& cn,Ifin = − k Ifin ⋅ AIfin ⋅ (TFI − T Iw1 ) ⋅ ξ ⋅  −2ξ L
− +2ξ L
 (10.1)
is negligible as compared to the axial temperature change due to 1 + e 1+e 
forced convection. Hence, for the present case, axial
conduction through duct walls is not considered and only radial  1 1 
q& cn, Ofin = − kOfin ⋅ AOfin ⋅ (TFII − TOw1 ) ⋅ ξ ⋅  − 2ξ L
− 
conduction of heat through tubes is taken into account. In 1 + e 1 + e +2ξL 
addition, due to relatively high turbulence level in the flow, the (10.2)
radial variation of temperature within the fluid is negligible.

4 Copyright © 2008 by ASME

 h fin ⋅ Pfin 3.2 Modelling Pressure Loss
where ξ= , Pfin = 2 × L fin,cr , The total pressure loss in the core flow is attributed to frictional
k fin ⋅ Ac / s , fin
loss at inner pipe wall surface and frictional losses at fin
Ac / s , fin = t fin × L fin, cr (10.2.1) surfaces.
∆ PF1 = ∆ PW 1 + ∆ PIfin (14)
The Harper and Brown [27] approximation as given by
where
Holman [28], is used for evaluating the corrected fin height
(Lfin,cr) for evaluating the heat transfer through longitudinal fins V 2 ⋅ ρ   L 
∆ PW 1 = 4 × fW 1 ⋅  F 1 F1  ⋅   (14.1)
with uninsulated ends   N⋅D 
Lfin,cr = Lfin + tfin/2 (10.2.2)  2   1

To evaluate heat transfer coefficient over surface of these

V 2 ⋅ ρ 
fins (both inner and outer), the Nusselt number correlation for
flow over a flat plate is used [29] as given below,  2 
(
∆ PIfin = f Ifin ⋅  F1 F1  ⋅ L Ifin H Ifin + t fin ⋅ N fin )
(14.2)
 
To evaluate friction losses due to the pipe surface, the
Nu x,fin = 0.332 Re1/2⋅Pr1/3 for 100 < Re < 3×105 (10.2.3)
Darcy- Weisbach friction factor correlation for evaluating
friction factor for flow through a smooth pipe, given by Eqn. 15,
Nu x,fin = 0.0296 Re0.8⋅Pr1/3 for 3×105 < Re < 107 (10.2.4)
is used. All variables are evaluated at the film temperature [29],
where all quantities are evaluated at film temperature. The (( (
f = 1.82 ⋅ Log ? ⋅ M ⋅ (? ⋅ R ⋅ T ) ) ⋅ Dh )
µ -1. 64 )
−2
4 (15)
transition Reynolds number (3×105) indicates the point when
flow turns from laminar into turbulent. For computing frictional losses factor at the fin surface, the
correlation given by Schlichting [29] for evaluating friction
Finally, heat conducted by the core duct wall is given by coefficient for flow over flat plate is used.
L f x , fin = 0 .646 (Re x, fin ) −0.5 100 < Re < 5×104 (16)
q&cn ,W 1 = q& cv ,IW 1 + q&cn , Ifin = q& cv ,OW 1 + q& cn ,Ofin = 2π ⋅ k W 1 ⋅   ⋅ (TIW 1 − TOW 1 )
N
(11) f x , fin = 0. 0592 (Re x, fin) − 0. 2 5×104 < Re < 107
Here the transition Reynolds number has been reduced due to
If the annulus duct wall is not insulated, additional
the accelerated transition from laminar to turbulent flow because
equations accounting for heat balance across annulus duct wall
of the pipe flow.
have to be solved,
Similar to the core flow, pressure losses in annulus flow can
q& cv , IW 2 + q& cv ,OW 2 = 0 (12)
be attributed to frictional loss at the duct walls and the external
where, fin surfaces. Hence
q& cv , IW 2 = h IW 2 ⋅A IW 2 ⋅ (T IW 2 − T FII ) (12.1) ∆ PF 2 = ( ∆POW1 + ∆PIW 2 ) + ∆POfin (17)

q& cv , OW 2 = h OW 2 ⋅ A OW 2 ⋅ (T OW 2 − T F∞ ) (12.2) The Reynolds Number based correlations given by Eq (18)

is used for evaluating the friction factor and its associated
where h IW2 and h OW2 are the convective heat transfer coefficient
pressure loss in the annulus [30].
at inner and outer surfaces of the annulus duct wall
−2
respectively, and can be evaluated by using Dittus-Bolter  ε  
correlation given by eqn 9.1 & 9.2. In Eqn. (12.2), TF∞ is the    
f = −2 log   Dh 
+
2. 5 
(18)
ambient air temperature surrounding the heat exchanger. The  3. 7 Re F 2 f 
heat transferred from annulus wall due to conduction can be  
calculated as,  
L
q& cn,W 2 = q& cv ,IW 2 = − q& cv ,IW 2 = 2π ⋅ kW 2 ⋅   ⋅ (TIW 2 − TOW 2 ) where hydraulic diameter is given by , Dh = Dh
N = ( D2 − D1 − 2 × tW1 ) , and Reynolds number is given by Eqn
(9.2.1). The above equation is solved iteratively for the friction
(13)
factor (f). Friction due to external fins is evaluated in a similar
To improve accuracy of the convective heat transfer manner to that by internal fins given by Eq. (16).
mechanism, the fluid thermo -physical and transport properties
are evaluated according to the local temperature and pressure, 3.3 Fluid Property Variation
as described in the subsequent sections. It is well know that if fluid temperature variation is
significant within a system, the fluid transport and
thermodynamic properties vary to a large extent, especially for

5 Copyright © 2008 by ASME

high temperature flows. Therefore, fluid temperature variation in
a practical heat exchanger is expected to be large and hence it is
necessary that this variation be taken into account. Zografos
et.al. [31] have provided the equations to compute the thermo
physical and transport properties of seven commonly used
fluids (air, liquid water, water vapour, carbon dioxide, Freon-12,
engine oil, and mercury). They used the curve fitting process to
fit the variation in fluid properties as, dynamic viscosity,
constant pressure specific heat, thermal conductivity, and more
with temperature, in the form of polynomials. In the present
analysis, air is used as the working medium in both core and
annulus flow.
3.4 Numerical Solution Method
The present problem cannot be solved analytically because
of the complex nature of system involving both conduction and
forced convection processes, resulting in a non-linear system.
there are no external fins in the heat exchanger and only the
internal fins are used for enhancing the heat transfer.
The comparison between Nusselt number and heat transfer
coefficient obtained from present methodology with
experimental results of Carnavos for the core flow is shown in
Figure 4 and 5 respectively. As seen from the figures, the
comparison between computed results and Carnavos correlation
is very good, the error is less than 5%. Hence validity of the
proposed methodology in evaluating the heat transfer and
pressure drop characteristics for an internally finned pipe is
established. It should be noted that Carnavos correlation is
evaluated at fluid bulk temperature where as the film temperature
is used for evaluating heat transfer in the semi-empirical
methodology.
450
Series1
Simulation
400

Therefore zonal analysis method is used, wherein the layout is 350

Series2
Carnavos

discretized into certain number of elements and governing

300
equations are solved for each discretized axial element (refer to
Figure 2). Various parameters like wall temperature, fluid Nuh 250

temperature, fluid properties, heat transfer coefficient, friction 200

factor coefficient, etc, are assumed constant within a discretized
150
element.
The Method of Successive Substitution [32] is used to 100

solve the governing equations, which include heat balance

50
equations for all elements and expressions for evaluating
various terms involved in these equations. In this methodology, 0
1000 10000 100000 1000000
variables like the wall temperatures, fluid temperatures, etc, are Re h
assigned with an initial values and then proceeding through the Figure 4: Comparison of Nusselt number obtained from the
system of equations (Eqn. 1-10), all variables are recalculated present simulations with the Carnavos correlation
and successively substituted and iterated until satisfactory
convergence is achieved. For the present exercise, a 500

convergence value of 10-3 is used. 450

Series1
Simulation
Carnavos
Series2
400
4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
350
H (Wm- 2K- 1)

The methodology described in the earlier section is used to 300

study heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of heat

250
exchangers. As stated earlier, there are no results available in
the literature for double pipe heat exchangers with both internal 200

and external fins, therefore the results obtained from the 150

proposed semi-empirical numerical methodology are compared 100

with experimental results available in literature for heat

50
exchangers with only internal fins or heat exchangers with only
0
external fins. 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Reh
4.1 Heat Exchanger with Internal Fins only
Figure 5. Comparison of the heat transfer coefficient obtained
As stated earlier, many investigators have looked into the
from the simulations with that obtained from the Carnavos
performance of internally finned tube with respect to its heat
correlation
enhancement capability and increase in pressure drop due to
the addition of fins. Both straight longitudinal fins and spiral
The comparison between friction factor and total pressure
fins have been investigated. The Carnavos correlation is used
loss for internally finned tube calculated by the proposed
as a benchmark for comparison. In this case it is assumed that
methodology and that obtained by using Carnavos correlation

6 Copyright © 2008 by ASME

is shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7 respectively. It can be seen the predicted friction factor, in case for external fins, is more
that the discrepancy between the friction factor decreases with than that obtained in experiments. However it should be noted
increase in the flow Reynolds number and the error never that the difference between the computed and experimentally
exceeds 6 % obtained results diminishes with increase in Reynolds Number.
The difference is mainly attributed in prediction of frictional
0.008
drag at the fin surface. Since there is no other correlation /
Series1
Simulation
0.007 experimental data available for predicting frictional losses in an
Carnavo
Series2 annular duct with fins, the above simulations can not be
0.006 s compared further. However it can be seen from Figure 9 that the
0.005
total pressure loss predicted by the proposed methodology is in
good agreement with that obtained experimentally by Braga &
f

0.004 Saboya [30], the difference being less than 5%

0.003

0.25
0.002
FF1O_AVG,
Simulation
0.001 Braga&Sboya
FF1O_BR,
0.2
0
1000 10000 100000 1000000
ReF1
fh 0.15
Figure 6. Comparison of friction factor obtained from the
simulations with the Carnavos correlation
0.1

4000

Series1
Simulation 0.05
3500
Series2
Carnavos
3000
0
Ploss (Pa)

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000

2500

Reh
2000

Figure 8. Comparison of friction factor obtained from

1500
simulations with experimental correlation provided by Braga
1000
& Saboya

500 2500
Simulation
PRLOSS,
0
1000 10000 100000 1000000 Braga & Sboya
PRLF_BR,
ReF1 2000

Figure 7. Comparison of the pressure loss obtained from

the simulations with that obtained from the Carnavos 1500
-∆P2

correlation for unit length of the pipe

1000
4.2 Heat Exchanger with External Fins only
In this case, only external fins within the annular passage 500
are considered for enhancement of the heat transfer (the internal
fins within the core pipe are neglected in this analysis).
Performance of heat exchanger with similar conditions as used 0
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000
by Braga and Saboya [30], the total pressure drop and heat Reh
transfer coefficient across the annulus, evaluated by the earlier
Figure 9. Comparison between the numerically obtained loss
described methodology, is shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9
in heat exchanger with experimental correlations of Braga &
respectively. It is seen that unlike in the case for internal fins,
Saboya

7 Copyright © 2008 by ASME

 500
Figure 10 shows comparison between numerically obtained No Fins
F1(K)
Nusselt number (by the proposed methodology) with that Inner Fins
Inner(TF1)
Outer Fins
Outer(TF1)
obtained experimentally by Braga & Saboya. It is seen that the 495 Both Fins
Both(TF1)
two curves cross each other at low Reynolds Number, thus
indicating that dependency of Nusselt Number on the Reynolds
Number exponent is more than that given by Eqn (3). However, 490

TF1 (K)
the overall comparison is good with the maximum error being
less than 5 %
485
100

480
80

475
60 0 5
0.25 10
0.5 15
0.75 1.020
Length (m)
Nuh

40 Figure 11: Temperature variation of the core flow for different

NU1O,
Simularions
cases
20
NU_BR,
Braga & Saboya The variation of Nusselt Number for the core and the
annular fluid with increase in the number of fins (both external
and internal) is shown in Figure 12. It is observed that Nusselt
0 number decreases for both fluids, however since there is a
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 substantial increase in the over all heat transfer area, the
Reh
effective heat transfer rate increases due to the simultaneous
Figure 10: Comparison of the Nusselt Number from the increase in the number of external and internal fins.
simulations with Braga & Saboya
140
Core
NU1O,flow
4.3 Internal and External Fins
120 Annular
NU1I,
From analysis of the results obtained in earlier sections, it is
apparent that the proposed semi-empirical-numerical 100

methodology can be used for evaluating performance of

80
internally or externally finned tubes. In this section, the double
Nu

pipe heat exchanger with both internal and external fins is 60

analyzed by using the proposed semi-empirical-numerical
methodology. Inlet conditions used for the test case are given 40
in Table 1. The variation of the core fluid temperature for
various cases (i.e. without fins, with only inner fins, with only 20

outer fins, with both inner and outer fins) is shown in Figure 11.
0
It is seen from Fig. 11 that the effectiveness of only inner fins or 0 5 10 15 20 25
only outer fins in transferring heat from the core fluid to the
Number of Fins
annular fluid is almost the same. Therefore maximum heat is
transferred in the case when there are both external and internal
Figure 12: Variation of Nusselt number with external and
fins.
internal fins

The increase in heat transfer due to fins also results in

enhanced pressure losses in the flow. The effect of fins (both
external and internal) on the pressure loss characteristic of the
double pipe heat exchanger is shown in Figure 13. Even though
the pressure loss in core flow is less as compared to that in
annular flow when there are no fins, the core fluid pressure
losses increase more rapidly with the increases in number of fins

8 Copyright © 2008 by ASME

 200 design specific. In addition, the variation in the fluid properties
Core flow
PRLOSS, due to variation in the temperature along the heat exchanger is
Annular
FF1I_C,flow taken into account. Hence the methodology can be applied to
160
cases where the fluid undergoes large temperature changes.
The predicted performance matches well with experimental
Pressure loss (Pa)

120 results reported in literature for pipes with internal or external

fins, and therefore we can extrapolate the validity of the
developed model to the case of double pipe heat exchanger.
80
Since the proposed model is based upon analytical formulations
of semi-empirical correlations, the time required for numerical
40 computations is very small and hence this methodology can be
successfully used for optimization processes wherein a large
number of design iterations are required before arriving at an
0
optimal solution. Hence the present methodology conveniently
0 5 10 15 20 25
Number of Fins fills in the gap between costly CFD simulations and easily
available but inadequate empirical correlations for finned tube
Figure 13: Pressure Loss Characteristics with fins for core and heat exchangers, and gives the designer a tool to optimize the
annular flow design of such heat exchangers for practical applications.

The effect of fin conductance and fin height on the flow 6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Nusselt number (for both core and annular flow) is shown in The authors are thankful to the Ministry of Higher Education,
Figure 14. The Nusselt number increases with increase in fin Govt. of Israel and Israel science Foundation (ISF) for
conductance and reduces with increase in fin height, as supporting the research.
expected. However increase in the fin height results in an
increase in the overall heat transfer area and hence resulting in 7. NOMENCLATURE
enhancement of the overall heat transfer rate. A area [m2]
Bi Biot number [-]
Cp specific heat at constant pressure [J/kg-K]
120 dA area of elemental strip [m2]
D diameter of duct [m]
100
Dh hydraulic diameter [m]
NU1I_100
Inner Fin (k =100) dx width of elemental strip [m]
NU1O_100
Outer Fin (k = 100) f friction factor [-]
80
NU1I,
Inner Fin (k =10)
h convective heat transfer coefficient [W/m2-K]
NU1O,
Outer Fin (k = 10)
k thermal conductivity
Nu

60
KT thermal conductivity of fluid [W/m-K]
L length [m]
40
M Mach Number [-]
m& mass flow rate [kg/s]
20
N number of elements [-]
Nu Nusselt Number [-]
0
P pressure [Pa]
0 5 10 15 20 25
Pr Prandtl number [-]
Fin Height (mm)
Q total enthalpy [J]
Figure 14: Variation of Nusselt number with fins conductance q& heat transfer rate [W]
and fin height
R gas constant of air [= 287 J/kg K]
Re Reynolds Number [-]
t thickness [m]
5. CONCLUSIONS
T temperature [K]
A new and fast calculation procedure / methodology is
V velocity [m/s]
described to evaluate performance of a double pipe heat
Greek scripts
exchanger with internal and / or external fins. The methodology
µ dynamic viscosity [Pa-s]
uses well-known and established correlations for the flow in
ρ density [kg/m3]
smooth tubes and for flow over flat plates and hence is not

9 Copyright © 2008 by ASME

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