Air-side performance of serrated welded spiral fin-and-tube heat exchangers

摘要

Heat exchanger is a basic component used in thermal processes such as industrial fluid heating, household appliances, waste heat recovery units (WHRU), etc. Presently, the spiral fin-and-tube heat exchanger is used as a favored type of heat exchanger for the waste heat recovery unit system, i.e., the economizer heat exchanger. The study investigates the effect of fin pitches on the air-side performance of serrated welded spiral fin-and-tube heat exchangers having Z-shape flow arrangement and the number of tube rows of 2 in range of high Reynolds numbers (4000-15,000). The test samples are made from steel (iron) with different fin pitches of 3.6, 4.2, and 6.2 mm. The experimental results reveal that the fin pitch has a significant effect on the air-side performance. It is confirmed that the fin pitch of 3.6-6.2 mm has the same trend in heat transfer coefficient at the tested condition. For f-friction factor, a detectable rise of the friction factor is found when the fin pitches increase to 6.2 mm. Moreover, the air-side performance correlations of serrated welded spiral finned tube heat exchangers are proposed for practical industrial applications. The proposed air-side performance correlation describes 100% for j-Colburn factor and f-friction factor within 10%.