EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF AN EXTENDED SURFACE WITH SPINE-TYPE FINS AND INVERTED V TUBE CONFIGURATION

Abstract

The heat transfer and pressure drop results of an extended surface with spine-type fins and inverted V tube arrangement, are presented in this paper. The extended surface is composed of an aluminum tube and a ribbon with cuts, of the same material, that forms spine-type fins when the tube is rolled. The tube forms a coil with an inverted V type array of tubes according to the direction of the air flow. The experimental characterization of the surface was performed in a wind tunnel for an air flow velocity from 0.5 to 5 m / s for a constant flow of hot water with a temperature of 40 °C circulating inside the coil. Based on the experimental results, the correlations for the calculation of heat transfer and pressure drop on the extended surface with spine type fins and the arrangement of inverted V tubes were obtained. Heat transfer results were compared with those presented by other authors who have tested extended surfaces with spine type fins but with an in line array of tubes. It was found that the extended surface with spine type fins and inverted V type array of tubes showed a greater intensity in the heat transfer process by forced convection at flow speeds lower than 1 m / s. Key Words: extended surface, spine-type fins, inverted V tube array, heat transfer, pressure drop.