Computation of Turbulent Forced Convection in Heat Exchangers Equipped with the Transverse Baffles

Abstract

In this paper, structure of the turbulent flow and heat transfer in tow-dimensional horizontal channel are investigated and analyzed numerically.  The air circulates inside a channel of rectangular section, containing two rectangular baffle plates. Tube with baffle inserts can serve as an effective application for augmenting forced convection heat transfer. This is an important problem in the scope of heat exchangers where the characterization of the flow, pressure distribution, as well as the existence and the extension of possible recirculation need to be identified. The turbulent governing equations that describe the flow are solved by a control volumes based on the finite Volume Method, employing the TEAM code (Turbulent Elliptic Algorithm Manchester) with the k-ε turbulence model. The velocity and pressure terms of momentum equations are solved by SIMPLE (semi-implicit Method for pressure-linked equation) method. The mean velocity profiles, the velocity and temperature fields as well as the Nusselt number distribution are presented for a typical case and for the representative value of Reynolds Number. The numerical calculations of the flow field indicate that the flow patterns and the recirculating zone changes its orientation as the blockage ratio (e/H) and the Reynolds number (Re) increase. Concerning the heat transfer effects, the results shows that the Nusselt number on the channel walls are strongly increased by increasing the baffle height and the Reynolds number. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results in literature in the velocity fields show reasonable agreement
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