Identifying the geometry parameters and fin type that lead to enhanced performance in tube-and-fin geometries

Several fin types geometries have been developed seeking improvements on the thermal and hydraulic characteristics of compact heat exchangers. The geometry selection is generally base on the comparison of performance data available in open literature, unfortunately, information is only existing for few geometries types and the performance analysis is assessed in several ways. Furthermore, the parameters used as means of comparison might be derived from different reference values, making the geometry selection not a straight forward task. In this study, the thermal and hydraulic characteristics of plain fin, annular fin and pin fin attached to circular tubes are obtained using 3D CFD simulation using commercial software. The frontal velocities range from 1 to 4 m/s and the performance comparison is carried out using a volume goodness factor plot. The results show that a geometry with larger surface area to volume ratio leads to enhanced performance.