Numerical and experimental study of flow distribution in tubular space of fin-and-tube heat exchanger with modified inlet manifold

Institute of Thermal Power Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering  

^* Corresponding author: tomasz.stelmach@gkpge.pl

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental and numerical investigation of flow distribution in the tubular space of cross-flow fin-and-tube heat exchanger. The tube bundle with two rows arranged in staggered formation is considered. A modified heat exchanged manifold, with inlet nozzle pipe located asymmetrically is considered. The outlet nozzle pipe is located in the middle of the outlet manifold, with a standard shape. An experimental stand allows one to investigate the volumetric flow rate in heat exchanger tubular space using the ultrasonic flowmeters. Various inlet mass flow rate i.e. 3 m³/h, 4 m³/h and 5 m³/h are considered. The experimental results are compared with CFD simulation performed in ANSYS CFX program using the SSG Reynolds Stress turbulence model. A relatively good agreement is found for tube Re numbers varied from 1800 to 3100.