Open Access

ARTICLE

Effect of Air Bubble Injection on the Performance of a Double Pipe Heat Exchanger

Roasi A. Flayh^*, Ayser Muneer Flayh

Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, 1417, Iraq[-4pc]

* Corresponding Author: Roasi A. Flayh. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advancements in Energy Resources, Processes, Systems, and Materials-(ICSSD2024))

Energy Engineering 2025, 122(7), 2801-2818. https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2025.062916

Received 30 December 2024; Accepted 15 May 2025; Issue published 27 June 2025

Abstract

Double pipe heat exchangers (DPHEs) are normally utilized in various manufacturing uses owing to their simple design and low maintenance requirements. For that, performance enhancement by improved heat transfer is ongoing. Air injections are a good strategy for enhancing the thermal performance of the DPHE. In the present work, the influence of air bubble injection in a DPHE was experimentally investigated, and the system’s hydrothermal performance improvement parameters were evaluated. Two modes were designed, manufactured, and used to conduct the experiments. The first mode was conducted with no air injection, named a single phase mode, while in the second mode, air was injected into the annulus of DPHE throughout different perforated rings on the side of the annular. Three different ring types were used and coded as R-1, R-2, and R-3, with an added case of insertion of the three rings inside the annulus. The airflow rate was fixed at 1.5 LPM with a 25°C inlet temperature. Also, the hot water rate in the inner pipe was maintained continuously at 3 LPM with a controlled 70°C temperature at the inlet. Five different cold water flow rates, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 5 LPM, in the annulus, were considered with a controlled inlet temperature at 17°C. Additionally, the effectiveness of the heat exchanger, the number of transfer units (NTU), and the overall heat transfer were predicted and considered for performance evaluation and comparison. The outcomes proved that the injection of air and the bubbly flow creation in the heat exchanger’s hot side is an effective method to strengthen the DPHE performance. Moreover, the total heat transfer coefficient was enhanced by 41% in R-1, 58.8% in R-2, and 40.1% in R-3 at 4 LPM of cold water. The optimal ring, which yielded the most improvement, was R-2, achieving a 65% improvement in NTU, with a maximum enhancement in effectiveness of 56%.

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Keywords

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