Experimental study on the performance of plane fin-tube heat exchanger made of different materials

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Abstract

In the current research of fin-tube heat exchanger, thermal contact resistance is rarely considered, or it is included in the air side heat transfer resistance. In this paper, the influence of materials of tubes and fins on the thermal contact resistance is studied. The heat transfer performance of four fin-tube heat exchangers made of different materials is investigated experimentally, and the general correlations of heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics are obtained in the Reynolds number range commonly encountered in engineering. It is found that in the Reynolds number range of 1 300-4 500, the Nusselt number of air across the copper-nickel-iron alloy tube-aluminum fins is 28%-40% greater than that of 304 stainless steel tube-aluminum fins. For the same manufacturing technology and fin material, the thermal contact resistance of pipes made of 304 stainless steel is 4.53×10-3 m2·K·W-1 more than that of copper-nickel-iron alloy. The measurement uncertainty of this experiment is 7.28%, and the thermal contact resistance is reliable, which can be used in engineering design.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)62-67
Number of pages6
JournalHsi-An Chiao Tung Ta Hsueh/Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University
Volume49
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 10 May 2015

Keywords

  • Fin-tube heat exchanger
  • Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics
  • Thermal contact resistance

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