Heat transfer enhancement mechanisms in inline and staggered parallel-plate fin heat exchangers

Heat transfer enhancement mechanisms and performance of parallel-plate fin heat exchangers are studied. Geometry effects such as finite fin thickness and inline vs staggered arrangements have been investigated. The time-dependent flow behavior due to vortex shedding has been taken into consideration by solving unsteady equations in two-dimensions. Companion steady symmetrized flow calculations have also been performed to identify the effect of vortices on heat transfer and frictional loss. Additional comparisons have been made with theoretical results for Fully developed flow between parallel plates and numerical results for restarted boundary layers to quantify boundary layer restart mechanism. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.