Heat transfer and pressure drop in corrugated channels

The convective heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of flow in corrugated channels have been experimentally investigated. Experiments were performed on channels of uniform wall temperature and of fixed corrugation ratio over a range of Reynolds number, 3220 ≤ Re ≤ 9420. The effects of channel spacing and phase shift variations on heat transfer and pressure drop are discussed. Results of corrugated channels flow showed a significant heat transfer enhancement accompanied by increased pressure drop penalty. The average heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop enhanced by a factor of 2.6 up to 3.2 and 1.9 to 2.6 relative to those for parallel plate channel, respectively, depending upon the spacing and phase shift. The friction factor increased with increasing channel spacing and its phase shift. The effect of spacing variations on heat transfer and friction factor was more pronounced than that of phase shift variation, especially at high Reynolds number. Comparing results of the tested channels by considering the flow area goodness factor (j/f), it was better for corrugated channel with spacing ratio, ɛ ≤ 3.0 and of phase shift, Ø ≤ 90°. Comparisons of the present data with those available in literature are presented and discussed.