Fin-tube heat exchanger performance for different louver angles

To choose the proper design for a heat exchanger in engineering industry and to evaluate the finned surface performance it is important to calculate fin efficiency. The heat transfer conditions, in tube-fin heat exchangers, can be modified for instance by changing the fin shapes. The angle of louver inclination affects the fluid flow direction and it has the effect on the heat transfer and temperature changes. In the paper, the heat transfer is estimated numerically for fins with and without louvers to choose the optimal louver angle in the car radiator. Numerical analyses are carried out to examine finned tube heat exchanger and to determine the performance of the radiator for eight different louver angles. Solutions are obtained by means of ANSYS program. The tube material is kept fixed as well as the heat exchanger fin and tube pitches (spacing) and the inlet air velocity.

Full text (pdf)

1. Bhutta M.M.A., Hayat N., Bashir, M.H., Khan A.R., Kanwar Ahmad, N. & Khan S.: CFD applications in various heat exchangers design: A review, Appl. Thermal Eng., 32 (2012) 1-12.
2. Lee S.H., Hur N., Seongwon Kang S.: An efficient method to predict the heat transfer performance of a louver fin radiator in an automotive power system, J. Mech. Sci. Technol., 28 (2014) 145-155.
3. Lyman A.C., Stephan R.A., Thole K.A., Zhang L.W., Memory S.B.: Scaling of heat transfer coefficients along louvered fins, Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci., 26 (2002) 547-563.
4. Malapure P., Sushanta K., Mitra S.K., Bhattacharya A.: Numerical investigation of fluid flow and heat trans-fer over louvered fins in compact heat exchanger, Int. J. Thermal Sci., 46 (2007) 199-211.
5. Nuntaphan A., Vithayasai S., Kiatsiriroat T., Wang C.C.: Effect of inclination angle on free convection thermal performance of louver finned heat exchanger, Int. J. Heat  Mass Transfer,  50 (2007) 361-366.
6. Saboya S.M., Saboya F.E.M. Experiments on elliptic sections in one- and two- row arrangements of plate fin and tube heat exchangers, Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci., 24 (2001) 67-75.
7. Vaisi A., Esmaeilpour M. & Taherian H.: Experimental investigation of geometry effects on the performance of a compact louvered heat ex-changer, Appl. Thermal Eng., 31 (2011) 3337-3346.
8. Vorayos N. & Kiatsiriroat T.: Thermal characteristics of louvered fins with a low-reynolds number flow, J. Mech. Sci. Technol., 24 (2010) 845-850.
9. Wais P.: Fluid flow consideration in fin-tube heat ex-changer optimization, Arch. Thermodynamics, 31 (2010) 87-104.
10. Wang C.C. & Chi K.Y.: Heat transfer and friction characteristics of plain fin-and-tube heat exchangers, part I: new experimental data, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 43 (2000) 2681-2691.