Thermo-hydraulic analysis and optimization of finned tube heat exchangers

The purpose of this investigation is to examine the impact of geometrical parameters on the effectiveness, the pressure drop, and the heat transfer coefficient of finned tube heat exchangers. Furthermore, by utilizing the NSGA2 technique, efficiency and performance index (the ratio of heat transfer rate to pumping power) are optimized. Nine parameters were chosen for optimization, including the inner diameter of the tube, the longitudinal tube pitch, the shape height, the shape width, the cold and hot side mass flow rate, the number of tube rows, the cold fluid inlet temperature, and the hot fluid outlet temperature. The results showed that as the shape height increases, the efficiency, the pressure drop, and the heat transfer coefficient in finned tube heat exchangers decrease. Additionally, it was found that by optimizing the objective functions, the efficiency of the finned tube heat exchanger was enhanced by about 25.28% and the performance index was approximately 2.9 times its value before optimization. Moreover, the optimization findings indicated that the heat transfer rate was increased by 4.9 times, compared to the initial results.