CFD INVESTIGATIONS OF THERMAL AND DYNAMIC BEHAVIORS IN A TUBULAR HEAT EXCHANGER WITH BUTTERFLY BAFFLES

摘要

In the present paper, the effects of a new baffle design on the efficiency of a tubular heat exchanger are numerically investigated. It concerns butterfly baffles inserted in a cylindrical tube heat exchanger. We focus on the influence of the shape of baffles, the space between baffles (pitch ratio, PR) and the baffle size (i.e. the blockage ratio, BR) on the heat transfer and flow characteristics. Three geometrical configurations with different PRs are realized (PR = 1, 2 and 4) and five others with different blockage ratios (BR = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5). The investigations are achieved for Reynolds numbers ranging from 3000 to 8000. All analyses are realized with the help of the CFD code Fluent. The  numerical results are compared with available experimental data and a satisfactory agreement is found. The obtained results showed that the butterfly baffle with PR = 4 and BR = 0.1 is the best design that ensures the best flow mixing and increases the thermal enhancement factor by about 1.7 time with a moderate pressure drop. Full Text: PDF DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5098/hmt.10.27 ISSN: 2151-8629 About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer