Experimental and numerical investigation on particulate fouling characteristics of vortex generators with a hole

In this study, the particulate fouling characteristics in a heat exchange channel with a rectangular wing vortex generator were investigated both experimentally and numerically. First, the fouling and flow resistance characteristics of the smooth channel, vortex generator without a hole, and vortex generator with a hole were compared experimentally. Subsequently, the fouling characteristics of the rectangular vortex generator with and without a hole were compared under turbulent conditions via numerical simulations. Finally, the effects of the hole diameter, and the lateral and vertical hole distances in the vortex generator on the particulate fouling characteristics were evaluated. The results show that both the vortex generator with a hole and without a hole could inhibit the formation of particles on the heat transfer surface. Compared with the vortex generator without a hole, the vortex generator with a hole could better inhibit particulate fouling, and it had a low flow resistance loss. The asymptotic fouling resistance decreased first and then increased with increasing hole diameter, it decreased as the lateral distance of the hole increased, and increased as the vertical distance of the hole increased.