Flow Prediction and Conjugate Heat-Transfer Analysis of a Counter Flow Heat-Exchanger with Protruded Fin

Abstract

Voluminous cram has been carried out in this project which is intended to improve the conjugate heat-transfer performance of a heat-exchanger. In this study, CFD method is effectively used to predict the effect of Protruded Fins in heat exchanger, which protrudes inside the tube in addition to the shell side. CFD analysis on Protruded Finned Heat Exchanger (PFHE) is carried out with three different fin configurations like rectangular, triangular and parabolic fins. The baseline model of counter flow shell-tube heat-exchanger is considered with standard dimensions and analyzed initially without fins. Later the numbers of fins are increased to optimize the fin position and counts. The shape of the fins is then modified to find an optimized model with a higher heat-transfer coefficient. Hence, the present conjugate heat-transfer and flow analysis focus on optimizing the number of fins for a heat-exchanger with counter flow along with the shape optimization of fins. The computational values are measured with the net heat exchange between the cold and hot-fluids in terms of temperature difference. Also, the area averaged surface heat transfer co-efficient (h) of the heat exchanger with different fin configurations are plotted and compared.