Open Access

ARTICLE

CROSSFLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS ACROSS A CAM-SHAPED TUBE BANK: A NUMERICAL STUDY

M. O. Petinrin^a , B. A. Sikirullahi^a, T. T. Olugasa^a, O. M. Oyewola^a,b,*

a Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
b School of Mechanical Engineering, Fiji National University, Suva, Fiji
* Corresponding author. Email: oooyewola001@gmail.com

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer 2022, 19, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.19.28

Abstract

Tubes are commonly employed in heat exchangers for their ease of production and capacity to sustain high pressure. In this study, the heat and flow transfer behaviour of cam-shaped tube bank in staggered configuration at varying angles of attack 0°to 180° was numerically investigated. The study was carried out by solving the continuity, momentum, energy and realizable k-ε transport equations using the finite volume-based ANSYS Fluent solver. This was performed to acquire the friction factor and heat transfer characteristics in the air inlet velocity range of 9 to 15 m/s. The results showed that the cam-shaped tube bank at varying angles of attack provided enhanced heat transfer characteristics relative to the circular tube bank. Also, camshaped tube banks at angles of attack of 90° and 120° exhibited the maximum heat transfer with 33.9 and 32.1% increase in Nusselt number over the circular tubes. Their friction factor was higher by 183 and 140.7%, respectively. The cam-shaped tube banks generally exhibited higher performance than the circular tube bank. Tube banks at angles of attack of 150° and 180° demonstrated higher thermal-hydraulic performance by 167.6 and 284.3% than the circular tubes, respectively. However, the tube banks at angles 90° and 120° exhibited lesser performance by value of 52.6 and 45.1%.

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