Numerical Investigation of Turbulence Effects of Delta Wing Vortex Generators on Thermal Perfoemance of Plate-Fin-and-Oval-Tube Heat Exchanger

The vortex generators are useful devices to enhance the heat transfer and thermal performance of fin-and-tube heat exchanger. Turbulators or vortex generators will produce a change in structure of fluid flow which will helps in augmenting the heat transfer rate and also the thermal enhancement factor. Numerical investigation method is adopted to study the effects of wings on the heat exchanger performance in order to reduce the cost. The results are shown that the use of the punched delta wings in the parallel plate-and-oval-tube heat exchanger leads to an enhancement in heat transfer and friction loss as compared to the plain-fin for all cases (Nu/Nu0 higher than 1). The punched delta wings create the vortex flows between parallel plates that helps enhance the strength of the impinging flow on the tube walls. To enhance the thermal performance of the heat exchanger, impingement of the flowing fluid is an important factor.