Heat transfer for laminar flow in spiral ducts of rectangular cross section

Laminar flow and heat transfer in three-dimensional spiral ducts of rectangular cross section with aspect ratios of 1, 4, and 8 were determined by making use of the FLUENT computational fluid dynamics program. The peripherally averaged Nusselt number is presented as a function of distance from the inlet and of the Dean number. Fully developed values of the Nusselt number for a constant-radius-of-curvature duct, either toroidal or helical with small pitch, can be used to predict those quantities for the spiral duct in postentry regions. These results are applicable, to spiral-plate heat exchangers.