Experimental study of convective heat transfer from a rotating finned tube in transverse air flow

The convective heat transfer from fins to air has been evaluated using rotating annular fins subjected to an air flow parallel to the fins. The fin cooling is studied using infrared thermography. The thermal balance in a fin during its cooling process allows us to obtain the heat transfer coefficient from the temperature time evolution of the fin. Moreover, Particle Image Velocimetry allows us to obtain the flow field in the mid-plane between two fins. The influence of the fin spacing on the convective heat transfer is studied fur various velocities of the superposed air flow and various fin rotational speeds. These tests were carried out fur air flow Reynolds numbers (based on the shaft diameter and the velocity of the superposed air flow) between 2550 and 18200 and rotational Reynolds numbers (based on the shaft diameter and the peripheral speed) between 800 and 2.9 x 10(4), for different fin spacings.