Numerical study of fluid flow and convective heat transfer characteristics in a sinusoidal wavy circular tube

CFD Study of Liquid Sodium inside a Wavy Tube for Laminar Convectors: Effect of Reynolds Number, Wave Pitch, and Wave Amplitude

“…The presence of circulation Re p = 100 mm, a = 2 mm p = 100 mm, a = 4 mm p = 100 mm, a = 6 mm p = 50 mm, a = 2 mm p = 50 mm, a = 4 mm p = 50 mm, a = 6 mm p = 25 mm, a = 2 mm p = 25 mm, a = 4 mm p = 25 mm, a = 6 mm also indicates adverse pressure gradient effects which is also the reason of high overall pressure drop for the wavy tube. It is worth mentioning that streamline patterns indicating circulation within the diverging parts of the wavy tube were also identified in the works of Kim et al [10] and Yang et al [9]. It is to be noted that high thermal conductivity of liquid sodium is capable of counterbalancing the low convective effects of a laminar flow; therefore, it is possible to operate wavy tubes at low Re in order to reduce the pressure drop across the tube and at the same time increase the heat output by reducing and increasing .…”

“…For instance, Kays [2] numerically studied the heat transfer in laminar flows inside circular tube, Ko [3] numerically studied the entropy generation and optimum Reynolds number for laminar developing flow inside double sine ducts, Chen and Chiou [4] studied the heat transfer in the entrance region of a laminar liquid metal pipe flow, Sahin and Mansour [5] numerically studied entropy generation in laminar fluid flow inside a circular pipe, Mehdi and Choi [6] performed CFD study of liquid sodium within thermally developing region under laminar flow, Gedik et al [7] utilized CFD to study the laminar magnetohydrodynamics flow of liquid metal inside a circular tube, and Makinde and Eegunjobi [8] numerically studied the effects of convective heating on entropy generation for laminar flow inside a channel with permeable walls. It is important to mention that in laminar flows the convective effects are low which places limit on heat and mass transport; however, the transport of heat in laminar flows can be augmented by utilizing several alternatives which includes the use of low Prandtl number fluids such as liquid metals [6], the use of nanofluids as indicated by the work of Yang et al [9], and increase in heat transfer area as indicated by the work of Kim et al [10].…”

Effect of Wavy Tube on Heat Transfer in a Concentric Tube Heat Exchanger

“…[5], they studied experimental investigation of the flow and heat transfer characteristics in a Sinusoidal wavy circular tube. They solved numerically the conservation equations of continuity, momentum and energy which govern the steady, threedimensional, and incompressible fluid flow and the heat transfer in the SWCT.…”