The Air-Side Thermal-Hydraulic Performance of Flat-Tube Heat Exchangers With Louvered, Wavy, and Plain Fins Under Dry and Wet Conditions
Abstract
The air-side thermal-hydraulic performance of flat-tube aluminum heat exchangers is studied experimentally for conditions typical to air-conditioning applications, for heat exchangers constructed with serpentine louvered, wavy, and plain fins. Using a closed-loop calorimetric wind tunnel, heat transfer and pressure drop are measured at air face velocities from 0.5 m/s to 2.8 m/s for dry- and wet-surface conditions. Parametric effects related to geometry and operating conditions on heat transfer and friction performance of the heat exchangers are explored. Significant differences in the effect of geometrical parameters are found for dry and wet conditions. For the louver-fin geometry, using a combined database from the present and the previous studies, empirical curve-fits for the Colburn j- and f-factors are developed in terms of a wet-surface multiplier. The wet-surface multiplier correlations fit the present database with rms relative residuals of 21.1% and 24.4% for j and f multipliers, respectively. Alternatively, stand-alone Colburn j and f correlations give rms relative residuals of 22.7% and 29.1%, respectively.
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For wavy-fin heat exchangers under wet conditions, inclination cannot eliminate condensate retention fluctuation.
“The condensate retention fluctuation of wavy-fin under wet conditions cannot be eliminated by the inclination.”
For louver-fin heat exchangers, the j-factor and f-factor significantly increase when the cores are inclined, especially for a smaller fin pitch at high Re.
“The j -factor and f -factor of louver-fin heat exchangers were significantly increased when the cores were inclined, especially for a smaller fin pitch at high Re .”
For wavy-fin heat exchangers, the effect of core inclination on the j-factor is negligible, although it is slightly improved at a high Re.
“However, the effect of core inclination on the j -factor of the wave-fin heat exchanger was negligible, although it is slightly improved at a high Re .”
Inclination of louver-fin and wavy-fin heat exchangers improves condensate removal.
“The results showed that the heat exchanger inclination improved the condensation removal of louver-fin and wavy-fin heat exchangers.”
Park and Jacobi proposed wet surface multiples to reduce biases caused by systematic experimental errors and inconsistent data interpretations.
“To improve the general applicability of the correlations, Park and Jacobi [88] proposed wet surface multiples to reduce biases caused by systematic experimental errors and inconsistent data interpretations.”
Cites
Air-side thermal hydraulic performance of multi-louvered fin aluminum heat exchangers
Kim, M.-H., & Bullard, C. W. (2002) · International Journal of Refrigeration · doi:10.1016/s0140-7007(01)00025-1 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of flat tube and louvered plate fin surfaces
Achaichia, A., & Cowell, T. A. (1988) · Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science · doi:10.1016/0894-1777(88)90032-5 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
Kim, M.-H., Song, S., & Bullard, C. W. (2002) · International Journal of Refrigeration · doi:10.1016/s0140-7007(01)00061-5 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
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Xiong, T., Liu, G., Gao, Q., Yan, G., & Yu, J. (2023) · Journal of Building Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2022.105654 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Xiong, T., Zhao, T., Liu, G., Zhao, L., Jin, J., Gao, Q., & Yan, G. (2024) · Journal of Building Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2024.109521 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Park, Y.-G., & Jacobi, A. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- ORCID
- Jacobi, Anthony M.
- Venue
- Journal of Heat Transfer
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-03-30
- Volume
- 131
- Issue
- 6
- ISSN
- 0022-1481 (ISSN-L)
- 1528-8943
- OpenAlex
- W1995904219
- Cited by
- 70
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 10.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- ASME Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Heat Transfer and Optimization
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Heat Transfer Mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Heat Transfer and Boiling Studies
- Keywords
- flat tube heat exchanger, air-side heat transfer, thermal-hydraulic performance, louver fins, wavy fins, plain fins, pressure drop, friction factor, Colburn j-factor, empirical correlations, aluminum fins
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