Numerical study on heat transfer enhancement for use of corrugated, nodal and horizontal grain tubes

With isopentane as working fluid, the heat transfer performances for corrugated, nodal and horizontal grain tubes are simulated. The structural parameters of the three kinds of tubes are compared with those of the plain tube. The numerical results using computational fluid dynamics are validated with theoretical values. For the corrugated, nodal and horizontal grain tubes, the heat transfer enhancements(HTEs) are 2.31–2.53, 1.18–1.86 and 1.02–1.31 times of those of the plain tube, respectively. However, the improved HTEs are at the expense of pressure losses. The drag coefficients are 6.10–7.09, 2.06–11.03 and 0.53–1.83 higher, respectively. From the viewpoint of comprehensive heat transfer factor, the corrugated tube is recommended for engineering applications, followed by the horizontal grain tube. © 2014, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.