Optimal flow parameters of louvered fin heat exchangers for automotive and air-conditioning applications
Louvered fin heat exchangers have been used extensively in automotive and air-conditioning applications. It provides additional heat transfer surface while maintaining low pressure drop compared to typical corrugated fins. The geometry of these fins is seen to be critical in determining the performa...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Published: |
2010
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6897/ http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6897/1/FRGS_0729.pdf |
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| Summary: | Louvered fin heat exchangers have been used extensively in automotive and air-conditioning applications. It provides additional heat transfer surface while maintaining low pressure drop compared to typical corrugated fins. The geometry of these fins is seen to be critical in determining the performance of heat exchangers. This project reports the effects of geometrical parameters on the pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of louvered fin heat exchangers. Investigation was conducted using both experimental and simulations work. Experimental work was implemented to visualize the flow characteristics at different Reynolds number. The experiment involved the fabrication and testing of 10:1 scaled up model of multiple louvered fins installed inside a test section. Simulations were also conducted using commercial CFD code, ANSYS Fluent. Two types of domain were modeled using single and multiple stacking. In this simulation, three identified variables are louver angle, louvered pitch and fin pitch with different Reynolds number from 200 to 1000. The heat exchanger performance was analyzed in terms of pressure drop and heat transfer to determine the suitable parameters of louvered fins. Two types of Reynolds number were also used including Reynolds number based on louver pitch (ReLP) and fin pitch (ReFP). The results obtained from the experiment show that significant changes of flow direction occur as the Reynolds number increases from 200 to 1000. The changes occur from duct directed flow (low Reynolds number) to louver directed flow (high Reynolds number). In simulation work, the fin pitch and louver pitch shows a considerable effect on the pressure drop as well as heat transfer rate. It is observed that the increasing fin pitch will result in an increase of heat transfer rate and lower pressure drop. On the other hand, low pressure drop and low heat transfer rate are obtained when the louver pitch is increased. Overall results show that configuration 5 (LP = 0.7 mm and FP = 3.25 mm) at louver angle 25.5o possess highest heat transfer coefficient and lowest pressure drop. These findings
indicate the capability of louvered fin in enhancing the performance of heat exchangers. |
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