Numerical Analysis of the Thermo-Hydraulic Performance of Internal Fins in Turbulent Pipe Flows

With the ongoing trend of component design moving toward miniaturization of systems, a lot of effort is being put into heat exchanger research to be able to design compact heat exchangers with higher heat transfer capabilities but lower power requirements to help curtail energy costs. Deployment of internally finned tubes is a possible solution. This paper investigates the performance of internally finned heat exchanger tubes, considering triangular fins, with truncation applied at either the fin base, or tip. Their thermo-hydraulic performance is compared to that of a plain tube. The findings of this study help choose the better fin design, in addition to the effect of varying fin density as well as height.