NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF THERMAL AND FRICTION CHARACTERISTICS OF TURBULENT FLOW THROUGH A CIRCULAR TUBE WITH PLATE INSERTS

In this study, a plate-type turbulator placed in a circular tube and analysis of the turbulators with different pitches and different fin angles formed on the plate were investigated numerically. Heat transfer performance and friction factor were investigated for Reynolds number 4000-30,000 for each type of turbulator. The basic conservation equations are solved in the steady state in 3D under the turbulent flow conditions by using the ANSYS Fluent commercial code with the realizable k-e turbulence model based on the finite volume method. Numerical analysis results were obtained in the study conducted according to different flow rates of air. As a result of the analysis, it was observed that the Nusselt number increased depending on the Reynolds number as the fin pitch distance became shorter and the fin angle increased. The use of each turbulator provided thermal improvement compared to the empty heat exchanger, and the highest thermal performance was obtained with the Modj 60 degrees turbulator at a rate of 208.57%. In addition, the effects of the obtained temperature contours and velocity vectors on the flow characteristics of the turbulator in the heat exchanger were investigated.