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Experimental validation of CFD-based correlations for 5 mm louver- and slit-fin heat exchangers: lessons learned.

Number: pap. 2582

Author(s) : NASUTA D., LI S., HWANG Y., et al.

Summary

This paper examines a recent effort to experimentally test copper-tube, aluminum-fin heat exchangers (HXs) to validate new CFD-based correlations for air-side thermal-hydraulic characteristics of enhanced fins with small-diameter tubes developed prior to this work (Sarpotdar et al., 2016a,b). Sample HXs with 5 mm diameter tubes were prepared from five manufacturers with a variety of slit- and louver-fin patterns and topologies. Experimental data was collected for HXs tested for dry air at 1-4m/s frontal velocity. Experimental data was reduced using a fluid-to-fluid HX solver based on the segment-level e-NTU method as opposed to conventional e-NTU relations for cross-flow HX’s or Wilson plot method, which are typically used for data reduction. Correction factors were applied to the existing correlations based on experimental findings and the final correlations were able to predict 100% of all observed air-side pressure drops and 98% of observed heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) with 20% error or less. Some deviations between CFD predictions and experimental observations are evident and the work underscores the importance of experimental validation and tuning. It is hypothesized that factors which are not accounted for in the CFD model, including thermal contact resistances between fin and tube, may contribute toward the CFD correlation’s consistent over-prediction of observed heat transfer. This method of combining numerical exploration of the design space with limited experimental testing and validation can be used to rapidly develop new, comprehensive correlations in a cost-effective manner.

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Pages: 10

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Details

  • Original title: Experimental validation of CFD-based correlations for 5 mm louver- and slit-fin heat exchangers: lessons learned.
  • Record ID : 30024656
  • Languages: English
  • Source: 2018 Purdue Conferences. 17th International Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2018/07/09

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