The entransy theory developed in recent years is used to optimize the aspect ratio of a plate fin in heat convection. Based on a two-dimensional model, the theoretical analysis shows that the minimum thermal resistance defined with the concept of entransy dissipation corresponds to the maximum heat transfer rate when the temperature of the heating surface is fixed. On the other hand, when the heat flux of the heating surface is fixed, the minimum thermal resistance corresponds to the minimum average temperature of the heating surface. The entropy optimization is also given for the heat transfer processes. It is observed that the minimum entropy generation, the minimum entropy generation number, and the minimum revised entropy generation number do not always correspond to the best heat transfer performance. In addition, the influence factors on the optimized aspect ratio of the plate fin are also discussed. The optimized ratio decreases with the enhancement of heat convection, while it increases with fin thermal conductivity increasing.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.