Numerical Study of Turbulent Heat Transfer in Helically Coiled Tubes

In this study, turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics in a helically coiled tube have been numerically investigated. Helically coiled tubes are commonly used in heat exchange systems to enhance the heat transfer rate. Accordingly, they have been widely studied experimentally; however, most studies have focused on the pressure drop and heat transfer correlations. The centrifugal force caused by a helical tube increases the wall shear stress and heat transfer rate on the outer side of the helical tube while decreasing those on the inner side of the tube. Therefore, this study quantitatively shows the variation of the local Nusselt number and friction factor along the circumference at the wall of a helical tube by varying the coil diameter and Reynolds number. It is seen that the local heat transfer rate and wall shear stress greatly decrease near the inner side of the tube, which can affect the safety of the tube materials Moreover, this study verifies the previous experinrntal correlations for the friction factor and Nusselt number, and it shows that the correlation between the two in a straight tube can be applied to a helical tube. It is expected that the results of this study can be used as important data for the safety evaluation of heat exchangers and steam generators.