Parametric study and optimization of H-type finned tube heat exchangers using Taguchi method

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering Vol. 103; pp. 128 - 138
• Main Authors: Wang, Heng, Liu, Ying-wen, Yang, Peng, Wu, Ren-jie, He, Ya-ling
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 25.06.2016
• Subjects: Friction; H-type finned tube; Heat transfer; Mathematical models; Numerical optimization; Optimization; Slits; Taguchi method; Taguchi methods; Thermal–hydraulic performance; Tube heat exchangers; Tubes; Thermal–hydraulic performance; H-type finned tube; Numerical optimization; Taguchi method
• ISSN: 1359-4311
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.03.033

•H-type finned tube heat exchangers are optimized using Taguchi method.•Parametric influence is investigated by intuitive analysis and analysis of variance.•Effective design parameters for overall thermal–hydraulic performance are fin pitch, fin height and fin thickness.•The optimal parametric combination is validated to have better overall thermal–hydraulic performance. In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical model of H-type finned tube heat exchangers has been built. In order to optimize its structure and improve its performance, Taguchi method is applied to investigate the influence of seven geometric parameters including slit width, row number, fin height, spanwise tube pitch, longitudinal tube pitch, fin thickness and fin pitch. Numerical simulations are performed on eighteen cases with different combinations of seven geometric parameters and the overall thermal–hydraulic performance and its characteristics of heat transfer and flow friction are discussed in detail. The results show that fin pitch and fin height play a significant role on the heat transfer characteristics while the flow friction characteristics are mainly affected by fin height, spanwise tube pitch and fin pitch. The intuitive analysis and analysis of variance show that fin pitch, fin height and fin thickness have much stronger influence on its overall thermal–hydraulic performance than the rest four parameters. Finally, the optimal parametric combination of the H-type finned tube is obtained with an improvement of overall thermal–hydraulic performance by 11.4–16% for Re in range from 9000 to 24,000.