Three-dimensional numerical study of heat transfer characteristics of plain plate fin-and-tube heat exchangers from view point of field synergy principle

In this paper, 3-D numerical simulations were performed for laminar heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of plate fin-and-tube heat exchanger. The effects of five factors were examined: Re number, fin pitch, tube row number, spanwise and longitudinal tube pitch. The Reynolds number based on the tube diameter varied from 288 to 5000, the non-dimensional fin pitch based on the tube diameter varied from 0.04 to 0.5, the tube row number from 1 to 4, the spanwise tube pitch S1/d varies from 1.2 to 3, and the longitudinal tube pitch S2/d from 1.0 to 2.4. The numerical results were analyzed from the view point of field synergy principle, which says that the reduction of the intersection angle between velocity and fluid temperature gradient is the basic mechanism to enhance convective heat transfer. It is found that the effects of the five parameters on the heat transfer performance of the finned tube banks can be well described by the field synergy principle, i.e., the enhancement or deterioration of the convective heat transfer across the finned tube banks is inherently related to the variation of the intersection angle between the velocity and the fluid temperature gradient. It is also recommended that to further enhance the convective heat transfer, the enhancement techniques, such as slotting the fin, should be adopted mainly in the rear part of the fin where the synergy between local velocity and temperature gradient become worse.