CFD Analysis of a Helically Coiled Tube in Tube Heat Exchanger

A helical coil tube heat exchanger is generally applied in industrial applications due to its compact structure, larger heat transfer area and higher heat transfer capability etc. The importance of compact heat exchangers has been recognized in many industrial applications ranging from chemical and food industries, power production, electronics, environmental engineering, manufacturing industry, air conditioning, waste heat recovery, cryogenic processes and space applications for the last six decades. However, flow and helical coils are extensively used as heat exchangers and reactors due to higher heat and mass transfer coefficients, narrow residence time distributions and compact structure. In the present study a tube in tube helically coiled heat exchanger has been modeled for fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics for different fluid flow rates in the inner as well as outer tube. A CFD analysis has been conducted for a TTHC heat exchanger. The geometry was developed in PRO-E 5.0 with meshing performed in ICEM-CFD and was exported to Fluent 14.0. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.