Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2014) 1e6

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Investigation of the semi-dimple vortex generator applicable to

n-and-tube heat exchangers
Chi-Chuan Wang a, *, Kuan-Yu Chen a, Yur-Tsai Lin b
a
b

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 17 June 2014
Received in revised form
14 September 2014
Accepted 20 September 2014
Available online xxx

The present study examines the air side performance of the n-and-tube heat exchangers having semidimple vortex generator or plain n geometry. A total of eight samples are made and tested with the
corresponding n pitch (Fp) being 1.6 mm and 2.0 mm and the number of tube row (N) are 1 and 2. The
inlet air ow direction is also being tested upon the proposed semi-dimple VG. Test results indicate that
the heat transfer performance of the proposed semi-dimple VG with N 1 at a smaller n pitch of
1.6 mm is slightly higher than that of plain n geometry. For N 1 with a larger n pitch of 2.0 mm, the
semi-dimple VG is about 10% higher than that of plain n geometry. The difference in heat transfer
performance amid VG and plain n geometry becomes more pronounced with N 2 and is especially
evident when Fp 2.0 mm due to mixing contribution. In general, the difference between plain and
semi-dimple geometry becomes more conspicuous at a larger n pitch because of the comparatively
effectively swirled motion. Both geometries show a dependence on n pitch at N 1 but the effect is
almost negligible when N is increased to 2. The inlet air ow direction casts negligible inuence on the
heat transfer performance of semi-dimple VG. However, the friction factors for the opposite air ow
operation is lower than that of normal operation, especially in low Reynolds number region.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Fin-and-tube heat exchanger
Semi-dimple
Vortex generator
Heat transfer

1. Introduction
In typical air-cooled heat exchanger applications, normally the
air-side thermal resistance accounted for nearly or more than 90%
of the total thermal resistance. Hence accommodation of large n
surface area is the generally adopted. In addition, protrusions or
interrupted surfaces can be mounted on at surfaces to provide
better heat transfer performance. The surfaces can be in the form of
continuous surfaces (e.g. plain, wavy) or interrupted (louver, slit,
offset, and the like). Some review articles by Wang [1,2] had
reviewed the patents of enhanced surfaces related to the n-andtube heat exchangers. From the 80 patents being surveyed, 90% of
them are related to the interrupted surfaces. However, interrupted
surface normally accompanied appreciable pressure drops.
Accordingly, one of the recent designs is to introduce the so-called
vortex generator (VG) which may ease the problem of signicant
pressure drop caused by highly interrupted surfaces. Through some

* Corresponding author. EE474, 1001 University Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan.

Tel.: 886 3 5712121x55105; fax: 886 3 5720634.
E-mail
addresses:
ccwang@mail.nctu.edu.tw,
ccwang@hotmail.com
(C.-C. Wang).

specic protrusions, e.g. wing or winglet-type vortex generators

with an angle of attack, desired heat transfer augmentation at the
expense of affordable increase in pressure drop can be achieved [3].
For VGs applicable to the air-cooled heat exchangers, the rst
investigation was done by Edwards and Alker [4] who showed that
the local heat transfer coefcient can be increased as much as 40%.
Fiebig et al. [5] reported the improvements in heat exchanger
performance by punching vortex generators on the primary heat
transfer surface. Tiggelbeck et al. [6,7] examined the inuence of
rectangular wing and delta winglet on the performance of n-andtube heat exchanger. Their experimental results found that the
inline arrangement is superior to staggered arrangement when VG
is applied.
Biswas et al. [8], and Fiebig et al. [9,10] numerically investigated
the inuences of geometrical congurations of VG such as rectangular wing, triangular winglet and the corresponding geometry
parameters like aspect ratio and attack angle. They concluded that
an aspect ratio of 2 and an attack angle of 30 provides the best
ratio of heat transfer/pressure drop. For an inline arrangement,
55e65% heat transfer enhancement with moderate rise of pressure
drop of 20e45%. Wang et al. [11] conducted a water tunnel visualization experiment by utilization of an enlarged scale wave type

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.09.054
1359-4311/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: C.-C. Wang, et al., Investigation of the semi-dimple vortex generator applicable to n-and-tube heat
exchangers, Applied Thermal Engineering (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.09.054

C.-C. Wang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2014) 1e6

VG applicable to n-and-tube heat exchanger. Their results clearly

indicated that introducing VGs greatly relief the futile transverse
vortices behind the tube.
There had been numerous numerical studies associated with the
performance of VG type n-and-tube heat exchangers [12e18], but
only very few studies had actually implemented VG in the actual
n-and-tube heat exchangers. For instance, He et al. [19] implemented a triangular winglet VG in a n-and-tube heat exchanger
having inline conguration. Their experimental results show little
impact of the 10 array and a moderate heat-transfer improvement
up to 32% for the small pair, both introducing additional pressure
loss of approximately 20e40%. Wang et al. [20] compared air-side
performance between delta-winglet VGs and wavy-n surface in
n-and-tube heat exchangers under dry- and wet-surface conditions. With the rise of tube row, they found that the performance of
the VG surface relative to the wavy-n surface becomes more
evident.
In this study, the authors propose an alternative VG conguration that is based on the dimple design. With the presence of
dimple alongside the n surface, the ip side becomes a hemisphere. As the air ow across the dimple surface, the ow separation may occur and it would generate a re-circulation zone and an
upwash ow. The upwash vortices periodically ow out the dimple
to give rise to horseshoe vortices and improved the heat transfer
process accordingly. Tests are then performed and are compared
with plain n geometry. In essence, the overall objective of this
study is therefore to present some detailed comparisons of the air
side performance of the semi-dimple VG against and plain n geometry. The effects of the n pitch and the number of tube row will
be also reported in this study.
2. Experimental setup

averaged. During the isothermal test, the variance of these thermocouples was within 0.2  C.
The pressure drop of the test coil was detected by a precision
differential pressure transducer, reading to 0.1 Pa. The air ow
measuring station was a multiple nozzle code tester based on the
ASHRAE 41.2 standard [23]. The working medium in the tube side
was hot water. The inlet water temperature was controlled by a
thermostat reservoir having an adjustable capacity up to 25 kW.
Both the inlet and outlet temperatures were measured by two precalibrated RTDs (Resistance temperature device, Pt-100 U). Their
accuracy was within 0.05  C. The water volumetric ow rate is
detected by a magnetic ow meter with 0.002 L/s resolution.
All the data signals are collected and converted by a data acquisition system (a hybrid recorder). The data acquisition system then
transmitted the converted signals through GPIB interface to the host
computer for further operation. During the experiments, the water
inlet temperature was held constant at 60.0 0.2  C, and the tube
side Reynolds number was approximately 38,000. Frontal velocities
of inlet air ranged from 1 to 5 m/s. The energy balance between air
side and tube side was within 2%. The water side resistance (evaluated as 1/hiAi) was less than 10% of the overall resistance in all cases.
The test n-and-tube heat exchangers are tension wrapped having
an L type n collar. Thermal contact conductance provided by the
manufacturers ranged from 11,000 to 16,000 W/m2 K.
3. Data reduction
The -NTU method is applied to determine the UA product in the
analysis heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of the test
coil from the experimental data. The detailed derivation of the heat
transfer coefcient can be referred to Wang et al. [21] and will not
repeat here. The obtained air sider heat transfer coefcient is then
in terms of the Colburn j factor:

As tabulated in Table 1, a total of eight sample coils which includes plain and semi-dimple VG. The detailed dimension and the
photo of the semi-dimple VG is schematically shown in Fig. 1.
Notice that the n thickness (df), collar diameter (dc), transverse
pitch (Pt), and longitudinal pitch (Pl) for all the test samples are
0.11 mm, 7.5 mm, 21 mm, and 18.2 mm, respectively. The corresponding n pitch (Fp) ranges from 1.6 to 2.0 mm and the number of
tube row (N) spans from 1 to 2 as shown in Table 1. Detailed construction of the circuitry arrangement is identical to Wang et al.
[21]. The experiments are conducted in an open wind tunnel as
shown in Fig. 2. The ambient air ow was forced across the test
section by means of a 5.6 kW centrifugal fan with an inverter. To
avoid and minimize the effect of ow maldistribution in the experiments, an air straightener-equalizer and a mixer were provided. The inlet and the exit temperatures across the sample coil
were measured by two T-type thermocouple meshes. The inlet
measuring mesh consists of twelve thermocouples while the outlet
mesh contains 36 thermocouples. The sensor locations inside the
rectangular duct were established following ASHRAE recommendation [22]. These data signals were individually recorded and then

where Ao and Ac stand for the total surface area and the ow crosssectional area, respectively. Uncertainties in the reported experimental values were estimated by the method suggested by Moffat
[25]. The derived uncertainties of Colburn j factors range from 2.4 %
to 7.3 % and is 3.6% to 11.2 % of the friction factors.

Table 1
Detailed geometric parameters of the test samples.

4. Results and discussion

No.

Fp (mm)

N, row

Geometry

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

1.6
1.6
2.0
2.0
1.6
1.6
2.0
2.0

1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2

Plain
VG
Plain
VG
Plain
VG
Plain
VG

ho
Pr2=3
rVmax Cpa

(1)

where Vmax Vfr/s. The term, s, is the ratio of the minimum ow

area to frontal area. All the uid properties are evaluated at the
average values of the inlet and outlet temperatures under the
steady state condition. The friction factors are calculated from the
pressure drop equation proposed by Kays and London [24]. The
relation for the dimensionless friction factor, f, in terms of pressure
drop is shown below:

"
#
 r
Ac rm 2DPr1 
1
2

1

s

1
Ao r 1
r2
G2c

(2)

The test samples are of plain and semi-dimple VG congurations

with the number of tube row being 1, and 2. The corresponding n
pitches (Fp) are 1.6 and 2.0 mm, respectively. Test results are in
terms of j and f factors. Fig. 3 denotes the test results for N 1 for
plain and semi-dimple VG geometry. For N 1, it appears that the j
and f semi-dimple VG is higher than those of the plain n geometry.
The Colburn j factors for VG surface is about 10% higher than that of
plain surface when Fp is 1.6 mm and Redc > 1000 but shows 20e40%

Please cite this article in press as: C.-C. Wang, et al., Investigation of the semi-dimple vortex generator applicable to n-and-tube heat
exchangers, Applied Thermal Engineering (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.09.054

C.-C. Wang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2014) 1e6

higher friction factor. This is also applicable when Fp is raised to

2.0 mm. Both n geometries show a dependence of n pitch when
N 1, and normally a smaller n pitch will lead to a higher heat
transfer performance. The effect of n pitch on heat transfer performance for N 1 is associated with the development of boundary
layer. Based on the experiments carried out by Saboya and Sparrow
[26] who used a naphthalene sublimating method, they found that
the boundary layer development for plain n geometry was the
most important factor of the 1-row n-and-tube heat exchanger,
and the effect of vortex might gain more importance as the Reynolds number increased. Note that the results with respect to the
n pitch for plain n geometry is especially pronounced for N 1.
The subsequent results have shown that the difference in heat
transfer coefcient in association with n pitch is comparatively
small when N 2. The phenomenon can be further explained from
the numerical results of the effect of n pitch carried out by Torikoshi et al. [27]. They conducted a 3-D numerical investigation of a
1-row plain n-and-tube heat exchanger. Their investigation
showed that the vortex forms behind the tube were suppressed and
the entire ow region was kept steady and laminar when the n
pitch was small enough. A further increase of n pitch would result
in a noticeable increase of cross-stream width of vortex region
behind the tube. As a result, lower heat transfer performance is

seen for a larger Fp at a low frontal velocity when N 1. A recent

numerical simulation by Zhang et al. [28] of the n-and-tube heat
exchanger having plain n conguration also unveils similar results. Their simulation indicates that the steady state velocity elds
are reached when the n pitch is in the order of 2 mm (or less than
2.0 mm). On the other hand, when the n pitch is larger than 2 mm
but smaller than 12.38 mm, velocities exhibit some degree of oscillations. Despite the serious velocity oscillations, stable and
symmetric vortices are formed behind each tube and the duct ow
effect is more dominant, thereby deteriorating the heat transfer
performance. Note that the semi-dimple VG shows moderate heat
transfer improvement (~10%) over plain n geometry for N 1
when Fp 2.0 mm. However, the improvement is reduced when Fp
is reduced to 1.6 mm. In fact, the heat transfer improvement is only
1e5% when Redc is less than 1000. The results are actually not so
surprising due to several possible causes. Firstly, the entrance
length for the present plate n geometry is about 10 mm, implicating improvement at the entrance region is comparatively futile.
Secondly, for the 1-row conguration, the generated vortices in the
rear part of the heat exchanger will impose less inuence on the
downstream area. Moreover, it becomes more apparent when the
n pitch is reduced for smaller n spacing will jeopardize the formation of longitudinal vortices.

Fig. 1. Detailed geometry and photo of the semi-dimple VG and relevant operation (unit: mm).

Please cite this article in press as: C.-C. Wang, et al., Investigation of the semi-dimple vortex generator applicable to n-and-tube heat
exchangers, Applied Thermal Engineering (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.09.054

C.-C. Wang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2014) 1e6

P H.X

Air Flow

3-phase, 220V

P SAT
P NOZZLE

T
Hot Water
Thermostat
Reservoir

PID

GPIB

Hybrid
Recorder

SCR

PC
Computer

HEATER 3-phase, 220V

1 Air inlet
2 Straightener
3 Developing section
4 Pressure tap(inlet)
5 T/C inlet temperature measuring station
6 Test unit(Heat Exchanger)
7 T/C outlet temperature measuring station
8 Pressure tap(outlet)
9 Mixer
10 Settling Devices (Flow Straightener)

11 Nozzle pressure tap(inlet)

12 Nozzle pressure tap(outlet)

13 Multiple nozzles plate
14 Settling Devices (Flow Straightener)

15 Centrifugal fan
16 Air discharge
17 Water pump
18 Water flow meter
19 RTD inlet temperature of water side
20 RTD outlet temperature of water side
21 Temperature sensor
22 Inverter

Fig. 2. Schematic of the test facilities.

Test results for N 2 are shown in Fig. 4. As shown in the gures,

a further increase of the number of tube row (N 2), the air ow
within the plain n-and-tube heat exchanger may become periodic
developed, and results in the vortex-controlled regime. Consequently, the effect of n pitch on heat transfer performance is much
less profound for N 2. The results can be elaborated from the

Fp =
Fp =
Fp =
Fp =

numerical results of 2-row conguration by Torikoshi and Xi [29].

Their simulations show that the air ow after the rst row cylinder
is stabilized due to the existence of the second tube row rather than
in the wake of the rst row. Therefore, the 2-row n-and-tube heat

Fp =
Fp =
Fp =
Fp =

1.6 mm (Plate)
1.6 mm (VG)
2.0 mm (Plate)
2.0 mm (VG)

1.6 mm (Plate)
1.6 mm (VG)
2.0 mm (Plate)
2.0 mm (VG)

0.1
0.1

j and f

j and f

j
j

N=2

0.01

0.01

N=1
100

1000

Redc
Fig. 3. Test results for N 1.

10000

100

1000

10000

Redc
Fig. 4. Test results for N 2.

Please cite this article in press as: C.-C. Wang, et al., Investigation of the semi-dimple vortex generator applicable to n-and-tube heat
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C.-C. Wang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2014) 1e6

j 0:29Re0:58
dc

2:2Re0:38
dc

 0:8
Fp
N0:2
dc


Fp
2
dc

0:5

 1:5 !
Fp
 1:4 log10 Redc
dc

(3)

(4)

Fp = 2.0 mm (Normal VG)

Fp = 2.0 mm (Opposite VG)

0.1
f

j and f

exchanger still reveals similar results as those of N 1. However, it

can be seen that the effect of n pitch for N 2 become less profound when compared with N 1. Apparently, this is because the
presence of additional staggered tube row that brings about better
mixing. In this regard, one can see that the effect of n pitch is
rather small, and this is applicable for both plain and semi-dimple
VG geometry. For the 2-row heat exchangers, it appears that the
heat transfer performance for the semi-dimple VG relative to plain
n geometry is increased. For instance, for Fp 2.0 mm, the j factor
for the semi-dimple VG geometry exceeds those of plain n
conguration by more than 17% when Redc is above 3000. The
corresponding increase of friction factor is about 30%. There are two
explanations for the rise of relative heat transfer performance between the semi-dimple VG and plain n. Firstly, the presence of
staggered tube row arrangement will bring about a better ow
mixing mechanism, and this mechanism is reinforced by the semidimple. This can be made clear from the present semi-dimple geometry which features a punched open area below the semidimple as depicted in Fig. 1. Note that prior to manufacturing the
semi-dimple vortex generator n die, a separate numerical simulation is carried out to determine the suitable location and the
arrangement of the semi-dimple vortex generator. Through the
punched open area, part of the air ow may ow through and
yields a better mixing. As a consequence, the mixing mechanism
becomes more pronounced when the Reynolds number is
increased, thereby resulting in a detectable difference in heat
transfer performance amid plain and semi-dimple VG.
The previous studies [30,31] for plain n geometry also showed
that at a higher Reynolds number subject to a larger number of tube
row may also bring about vortices along the ns, therefore the effect
of n pitch on heat transfer coefcient is reduced. As depicted in
Fig. 4 (N 2), one can see that the heat transfer performance of the
semi-dimple VG is almost independent of n pitch. This is because
additional mixing augmentation caused by the staggered tube row is
imposed upon the swirled motion. The combined effects result in a
similar heat transfer performance for both n pitches.
For comparison purpose, the air ow into the semi-dimple VG
can be reversed as shown in Fig. 1(c). For normal operation, the air
ow encounters the semi-dimple VG which provides the protrusion
to generate vortices. For opposite operation, the air ow is directed
through the punched open area of the semi-dimple VG to provide air
ow mixing. Fig. 5 shows the corresponding test results for N 2 and
Fp 2.0 mm subject to normal and opposite air ow operations.
Interestingly, the heat transfer performance is barely the same while
the friction factor for the opposite operation is notably lower than
those of normal operation. The difference is especially pronounced
when the Reynolds number is lower than 1500. In fact, the difference
can be as high as 30e40%. The identical heat transfer performance
implies that the contribution of swirled ow and mixing mechanism
are actually comparable. The lower friction factor for opposite
operation is mainly associated of the air ow being directed through
the punched holes while under normal operation the air ow impinges upon the semi-dimple directly, thereby a higher friction factor
for normal operation is encountered.
Based on the present test results, the heat transfer and frictional
performance of the proposed semi-dimple vortex generator can be
empirically correlated as:

0.01

100

N=2

1000

10000

Redc
Fig. 5. Comparison of the present semi-dimple VG subject to reversing inlet ow
condition.

The foregoing equations can predict 90% of the measured semidimple VG data within 10%.
5. Conclusions
In this study, an experimental study is carried out to examine
the air side performance of the n-and-tube heat exchangers
having plain or semi-dimple vortex generator. A total of eight
samples are made and tested in a well controlled wind tunnel. The
corresponding n pitch of the test samples are 1.6 mm and 2.0 mm
respectively and the number of tube row are 1 and 2, respectively.
The operational Reynolds number is from 400 to 4000. The inlet air
ow direction into the semi-dimple VG is also examined in this
study. Based on the foregoing discussions, some major conclusions
of this study are summarized as follows:
(1) For the air side performance for N 1 with a smaller n pitch
of 1.6 mm, the heat transfer performance for the semidimple VG is slightly higher than that of plain n geometry. For a larger n pitch of 2.0 mm, the heat transfer performance for the semi-dimple VG is approximately 10%
higher than that plain n geometry but accompanies a
30e40% increase of friction factor.
(2) For the air side performance of N 2, the effect of n pitch
cast a negligible inuence on the heat transfer performance
for both n geometries. However, the heat transfer performance of the semi-dimple VG relative to plain n geometry
is also increasing due to the contribution of mixing. A heat
transfer augmentation of 17% for semi-dimple VG can be
achieved but the corresponding friction factor penalty is
about 30%. The difference in heat transfer performance is
increased with the rising Reynolds number and the results
prevail for both n pitches. However, the difference in heat
transfer performance becomes more pronounced at a larger
n pitch due to comparatively effectively swirled motion.

Please cite this article in press as: C.-C. Wang, et al., Investigation of the semi-dimple vortex generator applicable to n-and-tube heat
exchangers, Applied Thermal Engineering (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.09.054

C.-C. Wang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2014) 1e6

(3) With regard to the effect of inlet air ow into the semidimple VG heat exchangers, test results indicate that the
heat transfer performance is barely the same while the
friction factor for the opposite operation is notably lower
than those of normal operation. The difference is especially
pronounced when the Reynolds number is lower than 1500.
In fact, the difference can be as high as 30e40% when the
Reynolds number is less than 1000. The identical heat
transfer performance implies that the contribution of swirled
ow and mixing mechanism are actually comparable.
(4) A correlation is proposed to describe the data of semi-dimple
VG n-and-tube heat exchanger, the proposed correlation
can describe 90% of the test data within 10%.
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the nancial support from the Ministry
of Science and Technology, Taiwan under contract 103-3113-E-009002.
Nomenclature
A
Ac
Ao
cp
dc
do
f
Fp
Gc
ho
j
k
N
NTU
DP
Pl
Pr
Pt
Redc
T

df
U
Vfr
Vmax

m
r
s

area
minimum ow area, rAfr
total surface area
specic heat at constant pressure
n collar outside diameter, do 2df
tube outside diameter
friction factor
n pitch
mass ux of the air based on the minimum ow
area, rVmax
heat transfer coefcient
Nu/RePr1/3, the Colburn factor
thermal conductivity
number of tube row
number of transfer unit
pressure drop
longitudinal tube pitch
Prandtl number
transverse tube pitch
rVdc/m, Reynolds number
temperature
n thickness
overall heat transfer coefcient
frontal velocity
maximum velocity inside the heat exchanger, Vmax Vfr/s
Q_ ave =Q_ max , heat exchanger effectiveness
dynamic viscosity of uid
density
contraction ratio of cross-sectional area

Subscripts
1
air side inlet
2
air side outlet
air
air side
f
n surface
m
mean value
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Please cite this article in press as: C.-C. Wang, et al., Investigation of the semi-dimple vortex generator applicable to n-and-tube heat
exchangers, Applied Thermal Engineering (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.09.054