Experimental and CFD investigation of convective heat transfer in helically coiled tube heat exchanger

Experimental studies on isothermal steady state and non-isothermal unsteady state conditions were carried out in helical coils for Newtonian as well as for non-Newtonian fluids. Water and glycerol-water mixture (10 and 20% glycerol) were used as Newtonian, and 0.5-1% (w/w) dilute aqueous polymer solutions of Sodium Carboxy Methyl Cellulose (SCMC) and Sodium Alginate (SA) as non-Newtonian fluids are used in this study. These experiments were performed for coil curvature ratios as delta=0.0757, 0.064 and 0.055 in laminar and turbulent flow regimes (total 258 tests). The CFD analyses for laminar and turbulent flow were carried out using FLUENT 12.0.16 solver of CFD package. The CFD calculation results (Nu(i), U, T-2 and Tw(0)) for laminar and turbulent flow are compared with the experimental results and the work of earlier investigators which were found to be in good agreement. For the first time, an innovative approach of correlating Nusselt number to dimensionless number, 'M', Prandd number and coil curvature ratio using least-squares power law fit is presented in this paper which is not available in the literature. Several other correlations for calculation of Nusselt number for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, and two correlations for friction factor in non-Newtonian fluids (based on 78 tests and 138 tests) are proposed. These developed correlations were compared with the work of earlier investigators and are found to be in good agreement. (C) 2014 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.