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Effects of aerodynamic turbulator on efficiency improvement and heat transfer enhancement of the internal flow in a pipe

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Abstract

The application of turbulators to improve thermal performance and thermal enhancement in heat exchangers because of the significance of energy management and optimization is one of the interesting topics for researchers. Analysis of aerodynamic turbulator in internal flow has been less discussed in previous studies. Therefore, the present work focuses on the effect of a perforated sphere turbulator in a circular pipe with square, circular, oval, and hexagonal geometry holes on turbulent flow characteristics and thermal performance. These turbulators are placed with equal obstruction against the flow of air passing inside the pipe at Re = 6000–24000 in wall conditions of constant heat flux. Ansys Fluent software is used for numerical solutions, and the results are validated with an experimental paper. According to the results, the hexagonal geometry creates less pressure drop than other geometries. The thermal performance in the pipe with innovative aerodynamic turbulators is improved compared to the smooth pipe and the pipe equipped with conventional turbulators. The highest thermal performance of 1.256 is obtained for the turbulator with an oval hole. Also, the range of Nusselt number compared to the plain pipe for turbulator with circular, hexagonal, square, and oval holes increases by 1.97–2.46, 2.24–2.65, 1.58–1.89, and 2.48–2.81 times, respectively. The effect of the proposed new turbulators was compared with previous studies in this field, and the results are promising.

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Abbreviations

V :

Flow velocity (m/s)

D p :

Pipe diameter (m)

d s :

Sphere diameter

d c :

The diameter of the circular hole

L 0 :

Length of the pipe

K :

The side of the hexagonal hole

a :

Square hole side

b :

The small radius of the oval hole

c :

The large radius of the oval hole

A :

Surface area (m2)

ν :

Represents the kinematic viscosity

F :

Turbulence kinetic energy

Re :

Reynolds number (=\(\rho V\) D/\(\mu \))

Nu :

Nusselt number

f :

Friction factor

S :

The distance between two turbulators

Q :

Volume flow (m3 /s)

Nu s :

The average Nu for the smooth pipe

f s :

The average f for the smooth pipe

ε :

Turbulent dissipation (J/kg.s)

E :

Energy

h :

Heat transfer coefficient \((\frac{{\text{W}}}{{{\text{m}}^{{2 }} {\text{k}}}})\)

ω:

Turbulence frequency

F1 and F2:

Blending functions

S:

Smooth

P:

Pipe

b:

Bulk

\(\rho \) :

Density (kg/m3)

\(\mu \) :

Absolute viscosity (kg/m s))

\(\eta \) :

Thermal performance factor

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Alzahra University, Tehran, 09121328094, Iran

    Mohammadreza Assari

  2. Optimizing Energy and Carbon Consumption, National Iranian Gas Company, Semnan, Iran

    Seyedhadi Banihashemi

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jundi- Shapur University of Technology, Dezful, Iran

    Seyedhadi Banihashemi, Milad Setareh & Amir Mohammad Nargesi Motlagh

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  1. Mohammadreza Assari
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  2. Seyedhadi Banihashemi
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  4. Amir Mohammad Nargesi Motlagh
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Correspondence to Mohammadreza Assari or Seyedhadi Banihashemi.

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Assari, M., Banihashemi, S., Setareh, M. et al. Effects of aerodynamic turbulator on efficiency improvement and heat transfer enhancement of the internal flow in a pipe. Sādhanā 49, 196 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-024-02519-7

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