Turbulent forced convection in a helicoidal pipe with substantial pitch

Fully developed turbulent convective heat transfer in a circular cross-section helicoidal pipe with finite pitch is numerically studied. The κ-ε model is used to model the turbulent behavior. The time averaged momentum and energy equations are derived in the helicoidal coordinate system. The results indicate that the temperature distribution in the cross-section will be asymmetric as the pitch of the coil increases. Unlike that in laminar flow, an increase in the Prandtl number will reduce the torsion effect on the heat transfer in a helicoidal pipe. The results also indicate that the pitch effect will be enhanced as the flow rate increases.