Heat Transfer and Flow Behavior Analysis of Double Pipe Heat Exchanger

Various researchers around the world are working upon the enhancement of effectiveness through the identification of various working fluids. In addition, micro-heat exchangers developed till date employ twisted tape inserts, baffles and fins to increase the surface area of the heat exchangers still keeping the effective dimensions of the heat exchangers to be low. In the present work, a double pipe heat exchanger with corrugated pipes is proposed to enhance the thermohydraulic performance of the heat exchangers. Investigation is completed in the present work to find the pressure drop and heat transfer in the double pipe heat exchanger (DPHE) using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Mass flow rates considered for the analysis are according to the practical conditions employed in industrial refrigeration systems. Further, due to the corrugations in the pipes, the increase in pressure drop expected. This pressure drop in the DPHE would contribute to the performance of the compressor in the refrigeration system thereby reducing the Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the system. Friction factors and Nusselt Numbers applicable to corrugated Double Pipe Heat Exchangers (DPHE) are investigated.