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Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

Kai Wang, Shiting Wen, Rizwan Zahoor, Ming Li and Božidar Šarler

The purpose of this paper is to find solution of Stokes flow problems with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions in axisymmetry using an efficient non-singular method of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find solution of Stokes flow problems with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions in axisymmetry using an efficient non-singular method of fundamental solutions that does not require an artificial boundary, i.e. source points of the fundamental solution coincide with the collocation points on the boundary. The fundamental solution of the Stokes pressure and velocity represents analytical solution of the flow due to a singular Dirac delta source in infinite space.

Design/methodology/approach

Instead of the singular source, a non-singular source with a regularization parameter is employed. Regularized axisymmetric sources were derived from the regularized three-dimensional sources by integrating over the symmetry coordinate. The analytical expressions for related Stokes flow pressure and velocity around such regularized axisymmetric sources have been derived. The solution to the problem is sought as a linear combination of the fields due to the regularized sources that coincide with the boundary. The intensities of the sources are chosen in such a way that the solution complies with the boundary conditions.

Findings

An axisymmetric driven cavity numerical example and the flow in a hollow tube and flow between two concentric tubes are chosen to assess the performance of the method. The results of the newly developed method of regularized sources in axisymmetry are compared with the results obtained by the fine-grid second-order classical finite difference method and analytical solution. The results converge with a finer discretization, however, as expected, they depend on the value of the regularization parameter. The method gives accurate results if the value of this parameter scales with the typical nodal distance on the boundary.

Originality/value

Analytical expressions for the axisymmetric blobs are derived. The method of regularized sources is for the first time applied to axisymmetric Stokes flow problems.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 26 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2022

Shiang-Wuu Perng, Horng Wen Wu, Nugroho Putra Kelana, Yi-Ling Guo and Chen-Jui Yang

The purpose of this paper, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) work, is to promote turbulent thermal convection in a heated circular tube using a passive scheme of a slotted…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) work, is to promote turbulent thermal convection in a heated circular tube using a passive scheme of a slotted twisted sheet.

Design/methodology/approach

The inventive design uses square-cut and conjugate triangular perforations to diversify the twisted tape for better thermal convection. The current novel passive scheme methodology is accomplished by carving the same square cuts and slitting various sizes of equilateral triangle perforations (side length varies between 8 and 16 mm). The re-normalisation group turbulence model and the semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equation method examine the turbulent thermal convection aspects of all simulations at different Reynolds numbers (6,000, 10,000 and 14,000).

Findings

The analyses of simulations exhibit that the placement of a twisted tape with triangle perforations and equidistant square cuts can effectually promote thermal convection in a circular tube. A larger-sized triangle perforation can increase the thermal convection enhancement and thermal performance factor, but an enlarged perforation may decrease the thermal convection enhancement and thermal performance factor. As a result, compared with the smooth circular tube, the circular tube with the slotted twisted sheet slit by a 10 mm equilateral triangle brings about the maximum improvement ratio of the mean Nusselt number of about 2.8 at Re = 6,000. Under weighing the friction through the circular tube, the tube with the slotted twisted sheet slit by a 10 mm equilateral triangle gains the best thermal performance factor of about 1.36 at Re = 6,000.

Research limitations/implications

The working fluid is water and its physical features are assumed to be constant. In addition, the fluid is considered a steady flow in this CFD work.

Practical implications

These CFD predictions will benefit the development of heat exchanger tubes equipped with a slotted twisted sheet to acquire preferable thermal convection enhancement.

Social implications

Higher thermal performance achieved by placing a slotted twisted tape in a heated tube will benefit society in lower energy consumption, machinery maintenance costs and impact on the environment.

Originality/value

This study combined triangle perforations and square cuts on the twisted sheet. This combination can induce the fluid flow across the sheet to disturb the swirling flow and then promote the fluid mixing to increase thermal convection. Therefore, this modified tape can be a profitable passive device for designing a heat exchanger.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2021

Ali Akbar Abbasian Arani and Hamed Uosofvand

This paper aims to present a numerical investigation on laboratory-scale segmental baffles shell-and-tube heat exchanger (STHX) having various tube bundles and baffle…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a numerical investigation on laboratory-scale segmental baffles shell-and-tube heat exchanger (STHX) having various tube bundles and baffle configuration.

Design/methodology/approach

To discover the higher performance the thermohydraulic behavior of shell-side fluid flow with circular, elliptical and twisted oval tube bundles with segmental and inclined segmental baffled is compared. Shell side turbulent flow and heat transfer are simulated by a finite volume discretization approach using SolidWorks Flow Simulation. To achieve greater configuration performance of this device, the following two approaches is considered: using the inclined baffle with 200 angles of inclination and applying the different tube bundle.

Findings

Different parameters as heat transfer rate, pressure drop (Δp), heat transfer coefficient (h) and heat transfer coefficient to pressure drop ratio (h/Δp) are presented and discussed. Besides, for considering the effect of pressure penalty and heat transfer improvement instantaneously, the efficiency evaluation coefficient (EEC) in the fluid flow and heat transfer based on the power required to provide the real heat transfer augmentation are used.

Originality/value

Obtained results displayed that, at the equal mass flow rate, the twisted oval tubes with segmental baffle decrease the pressure drop 53.6% and 35.64% rather than that the circular and elliptical tubes bundle, respectively. By comparing the (h/Δp) ratio, it can result that the STHX with twisted oval tubes bundle (both segmental and inclined baffle) has better performance than other kinds of the tube bundles. Present results showed that the values of the EEC for all provided models are higher than 1, except for elliptical tube bundles with segmental baffles. The STHX with twisted oval tube bundles and segmental baffle gives the highest EEC value equal to 1.16 in the range of investigated mass flow.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2020

Ali Akbar Abbasian Arani and Reza Moradi

Using turbulators, obstacles, ribs, corrugations, baffles and different tube geometry, and also various arrangements of these components have a noticeable effect on the shell and…

Abstract

Purpose

Using turbulators, obstacles, ribs, corrugations, baffles and different tube geometry, and also various arrangements of these components have a noticeable effect on the shell and tube heat exchangers (STHEs) thermal-hydraulic performance. This study aims to investigate non-Newtonian fluid flow characteristics and heat transfer features of water and carboxyl methyl cellulose (H2O 99.5%:0.5% CMC)-based Al2O3 nanofluid inside the STHE equipped with corrugated tubes and baffles using two-phase mixture model.

Design/methodology/approach

Five different corrugated tubes and two baffle shapes are studied numerically using finite volume method based on SIMPLEC algorithm using ANSYS-Fluent software.

Findings

Based on the obtained results, it is shown that for low-mass flow rates, the disk baffle (DB) has more heat transfer coefficient than that of segmental baffle (SB) configuration, while for mass flow rate more than 1 kg/s, using the SB leads to more heat transfer coefficient than that of DB configuration. Using the DB leads to higher thermal-hydraulic performance evaluation criteria (THPEC) than that of SB configuration in heat exchanger. The THPEC values are between 1.32 and 1.45.

Originality/value

Using inner, outer or inner/outer corrugations (outer circular rib and inner circular rib [OCR+ICR]) tubes for all mass flow rates can increase the THPEC significantly. Based on the present study, STHE with DB and OCR+ICR tubes configuration filled with water/CMC/Al2O3 with f = 1.5% and dnp = 100 nm is the optimum configuration. The value of THPEC in referred case was 1.73, while for outer corrugations and inner smooth, this value is between 1.34 and 1.57, and for outer smooth and inner corrugations, this value is between 1.33 and 1.52.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 January 2023

İpek Aytaç, Yosef Badali and Azim Doğuş Tuncer

Heat exchangers (HEs) which provide heat transfer and transfer energy through direct or indirect contact between fluids have an essential role in many processes as a part of…

Abstract

Purpose

Heat exchangers (HEs) which provide heat transfer and transfer energy through direct or indirect contact between fluids have an essential role in many processes as a part of various industries from pharmaceutical production to electronic devices. Using nanofluid as working fluid and integrating different types of turbulators could be used to upgrade the thermal effectiveness of HEs. Recently, to obtain more increment in thermal effectiveness, hybrid nanofluids are used that are prepared by mixing two or more various nanoparticles. The purpose of this experimental and numerical study is investigating different scenarios for improving the effectiveness of a concentric U-tube type HE.

Design/methodology/approach

In the numerical section of this study, different turbulator modifications, including circular and quarter circular rings, were modeled to determine the effect of adding turbulator on thermal performance. In addition, Al2O3/water and SiO2/water single and Al2O3–SiO2/water hybrid nanofluids were experimentally tested in an unmodified concentric U-tube HE in two different modes, including counter flow and parallel flow. Al2O3–SiO2/water hybrid nanofluid was prepared at 2% (wt./wt.) particle ratio and compared with Al2O3/water and SiO2/water single type nanofluids at same particle ratios and with distilled water.

Findings

Numerical modeling findings exhibited that integrating turbulators to the concentric tube type HE caused to raise in the effectiveness by improving heat transfer area. Also, experimental results indicated that using both hybrid and single type nanofluids notably upgraded the thermal performance of the concentric U-tube HE. Integrating turbulators cannot be an effective alternative in a concentric U-tube type HE with lower diameter because of raise in pressure drop. Numerically achieved findings exhibited that using quarter circular turbulators decreased pressure drop in comparison with circular turbulators. According to the experimental outcomes, using hybrid Al2O3–SiO2/water nanofluid leads to obtain more thermal performance in comparison with single type nanofluids. The highest increment in overall heat transfer coefficient of HE by using Al2O3–SiO2/water nanofluid achieved as 58.97% experimentally.

Originality/value

The overall outcomes of the current research exhibited the positive impacts of using hybrid nanofluid and integrating turbulators. In this empirical and numerical survey, numerical simulations were performed to specify the impact of applying different turbulators and hybrid nanofluid on the flow and thermal characteristics in a concentric U-tube HE. The achieved outcomes exhibited that using hybrid nanofluid can notably increase the thermal performance with negligible pressure drop in comparison with two different turbulator modifications.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2009

Behzad Ghadiri Dehkordi and Hamed Houri Jafari

The purpose of this paper is to outline more computational schemes which provide a low computational cost approach to analyze flow characteristics through tube bundles. Flow…

1113

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to outline more computational schemes which provide a low computational cost approach to analyze flow characteristics through tube bundles. Flow through tube bundles has been numerically simulated by means of an alternative approach so as to assess flow behavior and its characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

A Cartesian‐staggered grid based finite‐volume solver has been implemented. Furthermore, the ghost‐cell method in conjunction with Great‐Source‐Term technique has been employed in order to directly enforce no‐slip condition on the tubes boundaries. Before giving a solution for flow field through tube bundles, the accuracy of the solver is validated by simulation of flow in the cavity and also over a single circular cylinder. The results are completely compatible with the experiments reported in the literature.

Findings

Eventually, the flow through two types of tube bundles in in‐line square and general staggered arrangements in Re = 100 are simulated and analyzed. For these tube bundles that are being studied, the maximum drag and lift coefficients and maximum gap velocities have been numerically obtained. The same simulations have been also performed for the cases where the tube bundles are confined by two lateral walls.

Practical implications

These configurations are frequently used in heat exchangers, steam boilers, nuclear reactors, and many mechanical structures.

Originality/value

The adapted method is firstly implemented to simulate flow through tube bundles and the analyzed simulations have not previously been presented by other researches.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 19 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2009

S. Jayavel and Shaligram Tiwari

The purpose of this paper is to develop an indigenous three‐dimensional computational code and apply it to compare flow and heat transfer characteristics for inline and staggered…

1160

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop an indigenous three‐dimensional computational code and apply it to compare flow and heat transfer characteristics for inline and staggered arrangement of circular tubes in a tube bundle.

Design/methodology/approach

A finite‐volume based computational code is developed to solve the momentum and energy equations for flow through a three‐dimensional rectangular channel and past built‐in tube bundles having inline and staggered arrangement. The approach is based on SIMPLE algorithm. The basic conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy are solved over a body‐fitting grid on the physical domain to obtain the flow and temperature fields.

Findings

Heat transfer and pressure drop are compared for inline and staggered tube arrangements in a tube bundle over range of Reynolds numbers 300 ≤ Re ≤ 800. Results are validated suitably against those available in literature.

Research implications

Tube‐fin heat exchangers with continuous fins on a tube array are commonly used in air‐conditioning industry and in air‐cooled condensers of power plants. The flow structure within the finned tube bank is complex due to the presence of a circular tube, which causes flow acceleration over the fin surface and flow separation on the back side of the tube resulting in low velocity wake region. The present study provides a better understanding of flow behavior and heat transfer for inline and staggered arrangement of tube bundles in tube‐fin heat exchangers at different Reynolds numbers.

Originality/value

A numerical code based on finite volume method has been developed and used for computations to predict heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics for flow past inline and staggered arrangement of circular tubes. Predictions are made from the computed results about suitability of staggered/inline tube arrangements in a given range of Reynolds number.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 19 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1999

J. Orfi, N. Galanis and C.T. Nguyen

The fully developed laminar mixed convection flow in inclined tubes subject to axially and circumferentially uniform heat flux has been studied numerically for a Boussinesq fluid…

Abstract

The fully developed laminar mixed convection flow in inclined tubes subject to axially and circumferentially uniform heat flux has been studied numerically for a Boussinesq fluid. Dual solutions characterized by a two‐ and a four‐vortex secondary flow structure in a cross‐section normal to the tube’s longitudinal axis have been found for different combinations of the Grashof number Gr and of the tube inclination α for all Prandtl numbers between 0.7 and 7. In the two‐parameter space defined by Gr and α dual solutions occur: at a given α, if the Grashof number exceeds a critical value Gr (for horizontal tubes Gr is approximately 5.5 × 105, 1.7 × 105 and 1.7 × 104 respectively for Pr = 0.7, 7 and 70); at a given Gr, if the tube inclination is below a critical value αc (for Gr = 106 this critical angle is approximately 62.5° and 83.5° respectively for Pr = 0.7 and 7). Numerical experiments carried out for developing flows indicate that the two‐vortex solution is the only stable flow structure.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 9 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2019

Tomasz Sobota

The knowledge of the heat transfer coefficient is important for the proper design of heat exchangers as well as for the determination of the working medium outlet temperatures…

Abstract

Purpose

The knowledge of the heat transfer coefficient is important for the proper design of heat exchangers as well as for the determination of the working medium outlet temperatures. This paper aims to present a method of simultaneous determination of coefficients in correlation formulas for the Nusselt number on both sides of the heat transfer surface.

Design/methodology/approach

The idea of the developed method is based on determining such a values of the coefficients in Nusselt number correlations that fulfill the condition of equality between the measured and calculated temperature at the outlet of heat exchanger in terms of least squares method. To test the proposed method, a special experimental installation was built. The heat transfer in helically coiled tube-in-tube heat exchanger was examined for the wide range of temperature changes and volumetric flow rates of working fluid.

Findings

The simulation results were validated with an experimental data. The results show that the heat transfer coefficient of the counter-current is higher than the co-current flow in helically coiled heat exchanger. This phenomenon can be beneficial particularly in the laminar flow regime.

Research limitations/implications

The correlation for the Nusselt number as a function of the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers for hot and cold liquid was obtained with the least squares method for the experimental data.

Practical implications

The presented method allows for the simultaneous determination of heat transfer coefficient on both sides of the wall without the necessity of indirect calculation of the overall heat transfer coefficient. The presented method can be used in the thermal design of various type heat exchangers.

Originality/value

This work presents the new methodology of determination correlations for the helically coiled tube-in-tube heat exchanger for co-current and counter-current arrangement, which can be used in thermal design.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2014

Dongliang Sun, Jinliang Xu and Peng Ding

Based on the numerical research on the relationship between the flow pattern transition and the condensation heat transfer in circular microchannels, the purpose of this paper is…

Abstract

Purpose

Based on the numerical research on the relationship between the flow pattern transition and the condensation heat transfer in circular microchannels, the purpose of this paper is to bring forward a concept of external separation circular microchannel to regulate and control the flow pattern for enhancing the condensation heat transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical research is based on the volume of fluid method and the vapor-liquid phase change model proposed by the present authors.

Findings

By numerical research on the condensation process of water in a general circular microchannel, it is discovered that, with the increase of the inlet velocity and the reduction of the temperature difference between the saturation temperature and the channel wall temperature, the bubble detachment frequency is raised and the water vapor condensation length is extended, representing an exponential growth. Therefore, for the condensation process with low temperature difference and high mass flow rate, it is in urgent need to regulate and control the flow pattern.

Originality/value

To prevent the flow pattern in the general circular microchannel converted from annular flow to slug flow and then to bubble flow, this paper brings forward a concept of external separation circular microchannel, which regulates and controls the flow pattern by discharging partial liquid from the annular wall opening. After regulation and control, the flow pattern is converted from original periodic annular flow/slug flow/bubble flow to current stable annular flow. Accordingly, the heat transfer performance is enhanced and the condensation length is lowered remarkably.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000