Thermal Performance Enhancement for Heat Exchanger Tube Fitted with Vortex Generator Inserts

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to numerically investigate the thermal performance of a heat exchanger tube fitted with vortex generator inserts. In the present paper, three configurations of vortex generators—straight, double-curved, and triple-curved—are proposed to achieve the optimum configuration design that provides the highest thermal performance. The thermal performance results of the tubes fitted with the proposed vortex generators are compared with those fitted with a classical twisted tape and a plain tube. The triple-curved vortex generator, which is tested at four different pitch ratios (5, 4, 3, and 2), exhibits the highest thermal performance at a low Reynolds number. The numerical results indicate that the thermal performance increases as the pitch ratio decreases. Compared with the twisted tape, if the triple-curved vortex generator is employed at a pitch ratio of 2, the thermal performance can improve by approximately 24%. Using the numerical results of the current study, dimensionless correlations for the triple-curved vortex generator are developed and presented in this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Waleed A. Abdelmaksoud

Waleed A. Abdelmaksoud is an associate professor of mechanical engineering, Jouf University, Saudi Arabia, since January 2018. He is also employed as an associate professor at Cairo University, Egypt. He received his Ph.D. (2012) in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University, USA. His research interests include heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and water desalination systems.

Alaa E. Mahfouz

Alaa A. Mahfouz is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Beni-Suef University, Egypt. He received his Ph.D. (2017) in mechanical engineering from Cairo University, Egypt. His major fields of research are heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and energy saving applications.

Essam E. Khalil

Essam E. Khalil is a professor of mechanical engineering, Cairo University, since June 1988. He received his Ph.D. (1977) from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University, UK. His research interests include heat transfer, gas turbine combustors, and terrestrial energy. He has published over 945 papers in journals and conference proceedings on energy and combustion. He is Fellow of AIAA, ASME, and ASHRAE.