Computational Fluid Dynamics & Heat Transfer Analysis of Heat Exchanger with Inserts

Abstract

In heat exchangers, enhancement of heat transfer is achieved by increasing the convection heat transfer coefficient or by
increasing the convection surface area. One of the method to increase the convection coefficient within a heat exchanger
is by introduces inserts within the pipes/tubes. In the present work, introduction of inserts of different materials and cuts
have been investigated computationally. Effect of introduction of inserts of different cuts (square, circular and
triangular) inside the inner tube of single unit on heat transfer and friction factor for heating of water for Reynolds
number range 500-3000 was studied. Three different materials of the inserts Galvanized Iron (GI), Aluminium (Al) and
Copper (Cu) are used and the results reveals square cuts copper inserts performs better among the selection. The
variation between computational and experimental Nusselt Number was observed to be 19-28% which is attributed due
to simplicity of model and assumptions.