Heat Exchanger with vortex generators

In many heat transfer applications, double pipe heat exchangers (DPHX) are favorable due to their simplicity, ease of maintenance and low cost. However, DPHXs suffer from relatively low heat transfer rates compared to more complicated heat exchanger configurations (such as shell and tube). The main cause why the heat transfer rate is low is the laminar nature of the flow in many applications of interest. One possible technique to produce turbulence in a flow of low velocity is through the addition of vortex generators (VG).

Vortex generators consist of small structures of various shapes, attached to the outer or inner surface of the DPHX tube to transform the flow in the tube or annulus into turbulent flow. They can provide significant heat transfer enhancement since turbulence is known to be favorable for improving convection between the fluid and the heat transfer surface. Therefore, the main aim of this project is to design/optimize the performance of a DPHX using VGs.

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