Numerical simulation of heat transfer augmentation in fin-and-tube heat exchanger with various number of rows of concave rectangular winglet vortex generator

^1,2 Mechanical Engineering Department, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia
³ Aerospace Department, Bandung Polytechnic, Bandung, Indonesia
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering for Production, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea

^* Correspondingauthor: syaiful.undip2011@gmail.com

Abstract

The passive method by using a vortex generator (VG) is an effective method for the improvement of convective heat transfer. This study is focused on usage of concave rectangular winglet vortex generator (CRW VG) for improving convective heat transfer in a fin-and-tube heat exchanger using numerical simulation. Concave rectangular winglet pairs (CRWP) and rectangular winglet pairs (RWP) VGs were mounted inside the gap between fins (gas side) with variations of the number of VG pairs of rows. Inlet air velocity variations expressed by the Reynolds numbers were ranged from 364 to 689. Augmentation of heat transfer is indicated by the ratio value of heat transfer convection coefficient between cases using VG and that without using VG (baseline). The results show that the convection heat transfer coefficient for cases using CRWP VG is higher than that using RWP VG. Convection heat transfer coefficient increases up to 102% by mounting CRWP VG at Re = 364. However, the increase in convection coefficient is accompanied by a rise in pressure drop to 216.8%.