HEAT TRANSFER AND FRICTION CHARACTERISTICS OF CONVEX-LOUVER FIN-AND-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGERS

Abstract

Experiments were carried out to study the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of convex-louver fin-and-tube heat exchangers. In all, 12 samples of heat exchangers, including nine convex-louver, a wavy fin, a louver-fin, and a plate-fin configuration were tested and compared in the present investigation. The effects of row number and fin pitch on the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the convex-louver were also investigated. Results are presented as plots of Fanning friction factor f and Colburn j factor against Reynolds number based on tube collar diameters in the range of 400 to 8,000. The data were also compared to the louver, wavy, and plain fin geometries. It was found that the number of rows has a small effect on the Colburn j factor only at Reynolds numbers less than 1,000. Also, it is shown that the row effect on the friction factors is negligible.