Heat transfer analysis of flat and louvered fin-and-tube heat exchangers using CFD

Abstract

Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 30 June - 2 July, 2008.

This paper analyzes the fluid flow and heat exchange on the air side of a multi-row fin-and-tube heat exchanger. A comparison is given between fin-and-tube heat exchanger characteristics with flat and louvered fins in a wider range of operating conditions defined by Reynolds number (based on fin spacing and air frontal velocities). The detailed representation of calculated data for the louvered heat exchanger shows significantly better heat transfer characteristics and a slightly higher pressure drop. The CFD procedure was validated by comparing the numerical simulation results with the experimental results showing minimal average Nusselt number deviation and almost perfectly corresponding pressure drop.