Experimental investigation of heat transfer and exergy loss in heat exchanger with air bubble injection technique

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to evaluate thermal performance and exergy analysis of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with a new technique called air bubble injection. The study has been carried out with different parameters such as flow rate, fluid inlet temperature, and different air injection techniques. The air has been injected at different locations such as the inlet of pipe, throughout the pipe, and in the outer pipe of the heat exchanger. Based on the results, the performance of the heat exchanger enhances with an increase in the flow rate and the fluid inlet temperature. The exergy loss and dimensionless exergy loss increase with a rise in the flow rate. The maximum and dimensionless exergy losses are obtained at a maximum flow rate of 3.5 l min−1. With the air bubble injection in the heat exchanger, it has been observed that the temperature difference increases, which leads to an increase in the exergy loss. The injecting air bubbles throughout the tube section shows that minimum dimensionless exergy is 27.49% concerning no air injection.