Numerical study of fluid flow and heat transfer in tube banks with stream-wise periodic boundary conditions

摘要

A numerical procedure for the calculation of laminar fully-developed cross-flow and heat transfer in tube-banks heat exchangers is presented. Boundary conditions are introduced in a form similar to the treatment at conventional inlets and outlets. Calculations are performed for in-line square, rotated square and equilateral triangle geometries, with pitch-to-diameter ratio 1.25-2, Reynolds number 10{sup}1-10{sup}3, and Pradtl number 1-100, under both constant heat flux and constant wall temperature boundary conditions. Overall pressure drop and heat transfer factors are compared to previous numerical work, empirical correlations and experimental data. Overall pressure drop calculations correlate with experimental data, while at low Reynolds number,heat transfer calculations are shown to depend upon the choice of reference bulk temperature in the rate equation. Graphs of local pressure, drag, and heat transfer coefficients are provided and discussed in detail.