Experimental investigation on heat transfer enhancement of a tube with coiled-wire inserts installed with a separation from the tube wall

An experimental investigation was conducted for the thermo-hydraulic performance of a circular tube with coiled-wire inserts which were installed with a small separation from the inner wall of the tube. The wire inserts had an equilateral triangular cross-sections with a constant side length of e = 6 mm and they were coiled with three different pitch-to-diameter ratios: P/D = 1, P/D = 2, P/D = 3. A specific method was employed to coil the wires so that an edge of the triangle was oriented to face the incoming air flow. The coiled-wire inserts were installed with 1 and 2 mm separation from the inner tube wall so that the heat transfer enhancement due to the laminar boundary layer disturbance could be investigated. Experiments were performed for Reynolds numbers from 3429 to 26,663. The coiled-wire inserts led to a significant increase in both the heat transfer rate and friction factor over the smooth tube based on coil pitches and clearance. The maximum thermal performance was observed around 1.82 for the P/D = 1, s = 1 type at a Reynolds number of 3429. In conclusion, the laminar boundary layer disturbance can be effectively enhanced by using these types of coiled-wire inserts. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.