A Novel Numerical Method to Analyze Laminar Flow in Serrated Plate-fin Heat Exchanger Designs

Abstract

In the present research work, a simple numerical method has been explored to calculate the performance of serrated plate-fins. The numerical data of heat transfer and pressure drop performances have been compared with the available literature [6, 21], by means of calculating Chilton-Colburn j Factor and Fanning Friction Factor f, respectively. The numerical findings show good agreement with the experimental results from literature. Hence, the numerical analysis procedure proposed in this paper can be used to predict the performance of new designs of plate fins including different types of notched serrated fins. A detailed calculation and analysis of results have been carried out to compare the performance of three different patterns of serrated fins. The numerical setup has been kept constant to perform the tests for different laminar flow intensities. Finally, a design for an experimental setup has been proposed for future experimental data collection of temperature and pressure for various plate fin assemblies.