Cited by 281Heat Transfer and OptimizationHeat Transfer MechanismsHeat transfer and supercritical fluids

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 21 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 10 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Air-side thermal hydraulic performance of multi-louvered fin aluminum heat exchangers

Kim, Man-Hoe, Bullard, Clark W.·2002·International Journal of Refrigeration

Overview

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TL;DR

This experimental study measured air-side heat transfer and pressure drop for 45 multi-louvered fin and flat-tube aluminum heat exchangers over louver angles of 15–29°, fin pitches of 1.0/1.2/1.4 mm, flow depths of 16/20/24 mm, and air-side Reynolds numbers based on louver pitch of 100–600. General Colburn j and Fanning friction f correlations were developed with rms errors of ±14.5% and ±7%, respectively.

Key findings

  • Heat transfer coefficients decrease with flow depth and increase with face air velocity; pressure drops increase with flow depth and air velocity. For 24 mm flow depth, heat transfer coefficients increase with louver angle up to a maximum at 27° and then decrease; for 16 mm flow depth they do not change much with louver angle.
  • Friction factors increase with louver angle, but the effect decreases for louver angles larger than 21°. For louver angles below 19°, heat transfer coefficients decrease with fin pitch; for louver angles larger than 23°, they increase with fin pitch. The effect of fin spacing on heat transfer is relatively small (2–15%) and depends on flow depth and Reynolds number.
  • The j factors for 16 and 20 mm flow depths are similar, while those for 24 mm are smaller; the f factors for 20 and 24 mm flow depths are similar, while those for 16 mm are relatively smaller. The paper attributes this partly to different tube geometry (2 mm for 20 and 24 mm flow depths and 3 mm for 16 mm).
  • The j correlation predicts 225 test data points within an rms error of ±14.5%, and the f correlation within ±7%. The f correlation indicates that flow depth is an important parameter for pressure drop; the present and Sunden and Svantesson correlations reflect flow-depth effects, while other compared correlations do not.

Methods

  • Tests used a suction-type wind tunnel in a constant-temperature and humidity chamber with 45 multi-louvered fin and flat-tube heat exchangers. Louver pitch, louver length, and fin height were 1.7, 6.4, and 8.15 mm; tested core size was 350×255 mm; tube pitches were 11.15 and 10.15 mm.
  • Test conditions were air-side Reynolds numbers based on louver pitch and maximum velocity of 100–600, a constant tube-side water flow rate of 0.32 m³/h, and inlet air and water temperatures of 21°C and 45°C. Data were reduced using the effectiveness-NTU method for cross-flow with both fluids unmixed, and results were expressed as Colburn j and Fanning friction f factors versus Reynolds number based on louver pitch.
  • Measurement uncertainties were less than ±3% for heat transfer rate, ±12% for heat transfer coefficients, and ±10% for pressure drops.

Limitations

  • The paper states no dedicated limitations section. Stated constraints include that the j and f correlations were developed from 225 test data points for Fp/Lp < 1, with rms errors of ±14.5% and ±7%, and that tests covered only air-side Reynolds numbers of 100–600, a water flow rate of 0.32 m³/h, and inlet air/water temperatures of 21°C/45°C.
  • Evident from the text: the 45 samples cover limited geometry ranges (louver angles 15–29°, fin pitches 1.0–1.4 mm, flow depths 16–24 mm), so extrapolation beyond these configurations and test conditions is not supported. Comparisons with other correlations use only two sample heat exchangers (type I and type II), and some explanations for differences among correlations are described as difficult to explain.
  • The published record includes an erratum correcting Figs. 9 and 11 of the original paper.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s0140-7007(01)00025-1

Cites

21 of 21 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Claims the paper makes

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Webb RL. Advances in air-cooled heat exchanger technology. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Heat Exchangers for Sustainable Development, Lisbon, Portugal, 1998. p. 677–92.
  2. Davenport CJ. Heat transfer and fluid flow in louvered triangular ducts. PhD thesis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lanchester Polytechnic, 1980.
  3. Davenport, 1983, Correlation for heat transfer and friction characteristics of louvered fin, AICHE Sym. Ser., 79, 19
  4. Achaichia A. The performance of louvered tube-and-plate fin heat transfer surface. PhD thesis, Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Brighton Polytechnic, 1987.
  5. Webb, 1992, Air-side performance of enhanced brazed aluminum heat exchangers, ASHRAE Trans., 98, 391
  6. Rugh, 1992, A study of a very compact heat exchanger used for passenger compartment heating in automobiles, ASME Symp. Ser. HTD-Vol. 201, 15-24
  7. Sunden B, Svantesson J. Correlation of j- and f-factors for multilouvered heat transfer surfaces. In: Proceedings of the 3rd UK National Conference on Heat Transfer, 1992. pp. 805-11.
  8. Rich, 1973, The effect of fin spacing of the heat transfer and friction performance of multi-row, smooth plate fin-and-tube heat exchangers, ASHRAE Trans., 79, 137

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Metadata

Authors
Kim, M.-H., & Bullard, C. W.
Affiliations
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
Corresponding author
Kim, Man-Hoe
Venue
International Journal of Refrigeration
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2002-05
Volume
25
Issue
3
Pages
390-400
ISSN
0140-7007 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2066694433
Cited by
280
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 12
FWCI
10.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
International Journal of Refrigeration (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Heat Transfer and Optimization
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Heat Transfer Mechanisms
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Heat transfer and supercritical fluids
Keywords
louvered fin heat exchanger, aluminum heat exchangers, air-side heat transfer, pressure drop, fin angle, fin spacing, flow depth, Colburn j-factor, Fanning friction factor, heat transfer coefficient, cross-flow heat exchanger, effectiveness-NTU method, flat tube heat exchanger, air-to-water heat exchanger

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