Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer Enhancement Using Straight Flat Baffles

Abstract

Heat transfer augmentation finds its significance in many uses such as air conditioning, heat exchanger and refrigeration structures. On heat transfer augmentation many researchers conducted experimental and numerical to develop various techniques and methods. Heat transfer enhancement techniques are used to nurture the heat transfer rate without disturbing the complete performance of the system. The energy transport is considered enhanced if the flow is agitated and mixed well. This is the fundamental principle in the development of enhancement techniques that generate swirl flows. Nowadays, baffle inserts have widely been applied for improving the convective heat transfer in various applications due to their effectiveness, low cost and easy setting up. In this experiment an array of straight flat baffles was mounted transversely to the direction of air flow in a rectangular cross-sectioned duct and experiment was conducted for different Reynolds numbers. It is proposed to conduct the investigation to evaluate the influence of the presence of straight flat baffles on the flow path. It is observed experimentally that the straight flat baffles influence greater rate of heat transfer than that of the channel without baffles. The flow visualization for various Reynolds numbers also reports the significance of the presence of straight flat baffles in transverse directional flow.