Heat transfer of pulsating laminar flow in pipes with wall thermal inertia

• Temperature profile of pulsating laminar flow with wall thermal inertia was obtained.
• Heat transfer characteristics were analyzed.
• Heat transfer reduction up to 5 percent was found.
• Difference on heat transfer between flow in pipes and parallel plates was discussed.

The effects of wall thermal inertia on heat transfer of pulsating laminar flow with constant power density within the pipe wall are investigated theoretically. The energy equation of the fully developed flow and heat transfer is solved by separation of variables and Green's function. The effects of the pulsation amplitude and frequency, the Prandtl number and the wall heat capacity on heat transfer features characterized by temperature, heat flux and Nusselt number are analyzed. The results show that the oscillation of wall heat flux increases along with the wall thermal inertia, while the oscillation of temperature and Nusselt number is suppressed by the wall thermal inertia. The influence of pulsation on the average Nusselt number is also obtained. The pulsating laminar flow can reduce the average Nusselt number. The Nusselt number reduction of pipe flow are a little more remarkable than that of flow between parallel plates, which is mainly caused by differences in hydraulic and thermal performances of the channels.