Experimental study on flow friction and heat transfer in a square-duct heat exchanger with winglet turbulators

The paper presents an experimental study on airflow friction and heat transfer behaviors in a heat exchanger square-duct fitted with winglet turbulators. The experiments are carried out by varying the airflow rate in terms of Reynolds number from 4000 to 25,000. The winglets were mounted in tandem with three attack angles (α=30°, 45° and 60°), two winglet-pitch to duct-height ratios, (called pitch ratio, PR=P/H=1.0 and 1.5) and a single winglet-to duct-height ratio, (called blockage ratio, BR=e/H=0.2). Effects of the winglet parameters on heat transfer and pressure loss in terms of Nusselt number and friction factor are investigated. The experimental result reveals that the application of the winglets provides considerably higher heat transfer and pressure loss values than the smooth duct alone. The winglet at α=60o and PR=1 gives the maximum heat transfer and pressure loss but the one at α = 30o and PR=1.5 yields the highest thermal enhancement factor of about 1.49 at the lowest Reynolds number. © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.