International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

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

Performance assessment in a heat exchanger tube with alternate clockwise

and counter-clockwise twisted-tape inserts
Smith Eiamsa-ard a,*, Pongjet Promvonge b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok 10530, Thailand
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The article presents an experimental study of turbulent heat transfer and ow friction characteristics in a
Received 2 June 2009 circular tube equipped with two types of twisted tapes: (1) typical twisted tapes and (2) alternate clock-
Received in revised form 18 November 2009 wise and counterclockwise twisted tapes (CCC twisted tapes). Nine different CCC twisted tapes are
Accepted 18 November 2009
tested in the current work; they included the tapes with three twist ratios, y/w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0, each
Available online 8 January 2010
with three twist angles, h = 30o, 60o and 90o. The experiments have been performed over a Reynolds num-
ber range of 300027,000 under uniform heat ux conditions, using water as working uid. The obtained
Keywords:
results reveal that the CCC twisted-tapes provide higher heat transfer rate, friction factor and heat trans-
Clockwise and counter-clockwise
Twisted-tape
fer enhancement index than the typical twisted-tapes at similar operating conditions. The results also
Heat transfer enhancement show that the heat transfer rate of the CCC tapes increases with the decrease of twist ratio and the
Twist ratio increase of twist angle values. Depending on Reynolds number, twist ratio and twist angle values, the
Twist angle mean Nusselt numbers in the tube tted with the CCC twisted tapes are higher than those with the typ-
Heat exchanger ical ones and the plain tube around 12.841.9% and 27.390.5%, respectively. The maximum heat transfer
enhancement indexes of the CCC twisted tapes with h = 90o for y/w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0, are 1.4, 1.34 and
1.3, respectively. In addition, correlations of the Nusselt number and the friction factor for using the CCC
twisted tapes are also determined. Both predicted Nusselt number and friction factor are within 15% and
15% deviation compared to the experimental data.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
It has been commonly known that the performance of heat
exchangers, for single-phase ows in particular, can be improved
by many augmentation techniques. In general, the techniques for
heat transfer augmentation can be divided into two categories.
One is the active method, which requires extra external power
sources, for example, mechanical aids, surface-uid vibration,
injection and suction of the uid, jet impingement, and use of elec-
trostatic elds. The other is the passive method, which requires no
direct employment of the external power. The passive method in-
cludes a surface coating, wavy surfaces, rough and extended sur-
faces, convoluted (twisted) tube, additives for liquid and gases,
turbulators (coil wire, conical ring and conical nozzle) and swirl/
vortex generators (twisted tape, helical screw tape, axial/radial
guide vane, tangential inlet nozzle and snail entrance). Swirl/vor-
tex ow devices form an important group of passive augmentation
techniques. Twisted tape is one of the most important members of
this group which is employed extensively in many heat exchanging
* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +662 9883666.
E-mail address: smith@mut.ac.th (S. Eiamsa-ard).
systems such as solar water heater, heat exchanger system, refrig-
eration system, and chemical process industry.
Insertion of twisted tape in circular tube is a simple passive
technique for enhancing the convective heat transfer coefcient
on the tube side of a heat exchanger. In spite of the high-pressure
drop induced by an insert, utilizing tube insert in heat exchangers
has gained signicant interest. Because of its low cost and ease of
manufacture installation, the twisted tape has been widely used to
produce compact heat exchangers and to upgrade the thermal per-
formance of the existing heat exchanger. The twisted tape insert
provides considerable increase in heat transfer rate by formation
of a swirling ow and increasing the turbulence intensity close
to the tube wall. Numerous investigations have been performed
to increase heat transfer rate using this type of insert [114].
As mentioned earlier, the swirl induced heat transfer enhance-
ment, which is unavoidably accompanied by friction loss in the
tube. This causes the increase of pumping power, resulting in per-
formance factor at the same pumping power under unity. Attempts
have been made to reduce the friction loss by several approaches.
Al-Fahed and Chakroun [5], introduced free space or clearance be-
tween the tube and tape (called loose-t twisted tape). As com-
pared to the typical twisted tape (tight-t twisted tape), the
loose-t tape provided lower heat transfer enhancement. However,

0017-9310/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2009.12.023
 S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372
Nomenclature
A heat transfer surface area, m2
Cp specic heat at constant pressure, J kg1 K1
D inside diameter of the test tube, m
f friction factor = DP/((L/D)(qU2/2))
h heat transfer coefcient, W m2 K1
I current, A
k thermal conductivity of uid, W m1 K1
L length of the test section, m
M mass ow rate, kg s1
Nu Nusselt number = hD/k
P pressure of ow in tube, Pa
DP pressure drop, Pa
Pr Prandtl number = lCp/k
Q heat transfer rate, W
Re Reynolds number = qUD/l
t thickness of test tube, m
T temperature, oC
Te mean temperature, C
U average axial ow velocity, m s1
V voltage, V
V_ volume ow rate, m3 s1
at specic condition where twist ratio is small, the loose-t tape
offered nearly as high as heat transfer provided by the tight-t
one. This can be explained by the fact that, at small twist ratio,
the swirl velocity was high; hence, a large mass of uid was circu-
lated around the tape and resulting in effective heat transfer
enhancement. Eiamsa-ard et al. [6] applied regularly spaced
twisted tape in a circular tube. As found, the heat transfer rate de-
creased with increasing free space between the twisted tape ele-
ments. It was recommended that the space ratio (free space
length to tube diameter) should be kept under unity to get benet
of a better heat transfer rate and reduction of pressure loss in com-
parison with the plain tube. The tapes with large space ratios pro-
vided poor performances, because the large free-spacing between
the twisted tapes was found to be not sufcient to maintain the
swirl intensity to extent to the next twisted tape element. Jaisankar
et al. [7] found that twisted tape with spacer at the trailing edge
effectively decreased friction loss. It was suggested that the space
should be kept at moderated value for the good performance.
The above reviews indicate that, the use of modied twisted
tapes with design for purpose to reduce friction loss, is found to
be attractive at only a certain condition, where the continuous
swirl ow with strong intensity is maintained. To extend the use
of twisted tape, several research groups have made the modied
twisted tapes by focusing on the increase in heat transfer rate
rather than the reduction in friction loss. Chang et al. [8] intro-
duced a novel serrated twisted tape for heat transfer enhancement.
It was inferred that the interactive mechanism between the serra-
tion generated vertical cells and the swirling ows induced by the
twisted tape was the dominant ow physic that provided the heat
transfer enhancement. The serrated tape improved heat transfer
rate in the range of 1.251.67 times the typical twisted tape. How-
ever, at the same twist ratio, the serrated tape yielded lower ther-
mal performance factor, g, than the typical one. This result was a
consequence of the higher increase in friction factor. With the
overall look, the serrated tape was considered as an effective mean
for further heat transfer enhancement with respect to the typical
one. Chang et al. [9] again utilized another new type of twisted
tape, broken twisted tape for heat transfer enhancement applica-
tion. Their discussion revealed that swirl induced by the broken
twisted tape was found to be weaker than that by the typical tape.
1365
w tape width, m
y tape pitch length (180o rotation), m
y/w twist ratio
Greek letters
h twist angle, degree
d tape thickness, m
q uid density, kg m3
l uid dynamic viscosity, kg s1 m1
g heat transfer enhancement index
Subscripts
b bulk
conv convection
i inlet
o outlet
p plain tube
pp pumping power
s swirl generator
w tube wall
However, the improved uid mixing and the amplied intensities
of turbulence and vorticity due to the separated shear layers down-
stream these twisted spikes surpassed the impacts of weakened
swirls on heat transfer enhancement. Heat transfer coefcient,
mean Fanning friction factor and thermal performance factor val-
ues in the tube tted with the broken twisted tape were, respec-
tively, in a range of 1.282.4, 24.7 and 0.991.8 times of those
with the typical twisted tape. Rahimi et al. [10] conducted experi-
mental and numerical investigations on the friction factor, Nusselt
number and thermal-hydraulic performance of a tube equipped
with the typical and three modied twisted tape inserts included,
perforated, notched, and jagged twisted-tapes. Their results
showed that the Nusselt number and performance of the jagged in-
sert were higher than the others. Maximum increases of 31% and
22% were observed in the calculated Nusselt number and perfor-
mance of the jagged insert as compared with those obtained from
the typical one. The higher turbulence intensity of the uid close to
the tube wall was expressed as the main reason for the
enhancement.
Moreover, some efforts have been undertaken to use twisted
tape with uneven surfaces, for example, micron tube [11], a sin-
gle-start spirally corrugated tube [12], spirally grooved tube [13].
The further heat transfer enhancements by those tubes were
attributed to secondary ows from wall to the core, which were
generated by the uneven surfaces, facilitating mixing inside the
tubes.
Sivashanmugam et al. [14] studied the heat transfer and friction
factor characteristics of a circular tube tted with right-left helical
screw tape inserts of equal length, and unequal length of different
twist ratios. They reported that the heat transfer enhancement for
right-left helical screw tape inserts is higher than that for straight
helical twist due to the effect of repeated left-right movement of
uid during course of ow through tube attached with left-right
twist tape providing efcient mixing in the radial direction.
As mentioned above, twisted tapes with different geometries
offer different performances and mechanisms of heat transfer
enhancement. Therefore, it is interesting to evaluate the potential
of the newly designed twisted tape with promising geometry, for
heat transfer enhancement. To the authors knowledge, the turbu-
lent heat transfer and ow friction behaviors in a circular tube t-
1366 S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372
ted with tapes twisted in clockwise and counter-clockwise rota-
tions (CCC arrangement) have rarely been reported. In the present
study, the alternate clockwise and counter-clockwise twisted tape
inserts with novel design are therefore presented and proposed for
heat transfer enhancement. This modied twisted tape is designed
to offer periodic change of swirl direction along the test tube,
which is expected to provide better mixing than the typical one.
The experiments are conducted to examine the Nusselt number
and ow friction characteristics in a circular tube under uniform
heat ux condition. In the test, inuences of (1) typical twisted-
tapes (single twisting direction), (2) twisted-tapes with CCC
arrangement at various twist ratios (y/w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0), and
(3) twist angle (h = 30o, 60o and 90o), on heat transfer rate (Nu),
friction factor (f) and heat transfer enhancement index (g) charac-
teristics in a heat exchanger are studied experimentally in the Rey-
nolds number range of 300027,000. The geometrical details of all
twisted tapes used in the present work are depicted in Fig. 1.
2. Experimental details
2.1. CCC twisted-tape
The twisted-tapes were made of aluminum strips with thick-
ness of 1.0 mm (d), width of 18 mm and length of 1000 mm. They
were fabricated by twisting straight tapes, about their longitudinal
axis, while being held under tension. For typical twisted-tapes, the
straight tapes were twisted with three different twist lengths in
180 rotation (y) in a single clockwise direction. On the other hand,
the novel alternate clockwise and counter-clockwise twisted-tapes
(CCC twisted-tapes) were obtained by modication of typical tape
via the following steps: (1) for every two twist lengths, the tape
was cut on both sides with 4 mm depth of cut, (2) both sides at
the cut were twisted simultaneously to the required different an-
gles with respect to that of the former twist length (called twist an-
Fig. 1. Test tube tted with twisted-tapes: (a) the typical twisted-tape, (b) CCC twisted-tape with h = 30o, (c) CCC twisted-tape with h = 60o, and (d) CCC twisted-tape with
h = 90o.
gle (h) = 30o or 60o or 90o), which is in arrangement for producing
of swirl ow in opposing direction with regard to that of the former
twist length (from clockwise to counterclockwise and vice versa).
The details of twisted-tapes are shown in Fig 1.
2.2. Experimental set-up
A schematic diagram of the apparatus with the basic compo-
nents and uid ow systems is presented in Fig. 2. The loop con-
sisted of a 0.5 hp centrifugal water pump, Rota-meter for
measurement of volumetric water ow rate, and the heat transfer
test section. The copper test tube has an inside diameter of 19 mm,
an outside diameter of 22 mm, a tube thickness (t) of 1.5 mm and a
length (L) of =1000 mm. During the test, the test tube is heated by
continually winding exible electrical wires, providing a uniform
heat ux boundary condition. The electrical output power is con-
trolled by a variac transformer to obtain a constant heat ux along
the entire length of the test section and by keeping the current less
than 9 amps. The outer surface of the test tube is well insulated to
minimize convective heat loss to surroundings, and necessary pre-
cautions are taken to prevent leakages from the system.
2.3. Test condition and method
In the apparatus setting above, the inlet cold water at 27 C
from a water pump was directed through the Rota-meter and
passed to the heat transfer test section. The pressure drop of
the heat transfer test tube was measured with a pressure trans-
ducer. The volumetric water ow rates from the centrifugal
water pump were varied by adjusting the globe valve and mea-
sured by the Rota-meter situated upstream of the test tube. The
inner and outer temperatures of the water were measured at
certain points with a data logger unit in conjunction with the
RTD PT 100 type temperature sensors. Fifteen thermocouples
 S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372 1367

Over flow
Cold water
tube
tank

Varaic
Ampmeter

RTD
Pressure tap RTD
test tube
Pressure tap Ball valve

Globe valve
Rotameter
Card Pressure
transmitter

Globe valve Ball valve

Computer Thermocouple
Data logger

Water tank

Warm water Cooling coil

tank

Water tank

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of experimental heat transfer set-up.

were tapped on the local wall of the plain tube and the thermo-
couples were placed round the plain tube to measure the cir-
cumferential temperature variation, which was found to be
negligible. The mean local wall temperature was determined
by means of calculations based on the reading of copper-con-
stantan thermocouples. In each test run, it was necessary to re-
cord the data of temperature, volumetric ow rate and pressure
drop of the water at steady state conditions in which the inlet
water temperature was maintained at 27 C. The Reynolds num-
bers of the water were varied from 3000 to 27,000. In order to
quantify the uncertainties of measurements, the reduced data
obtained experimentally were determined. The uncertainty in
the data calculation was based on Ref. [15]. The maximum
uncertainties of non-dimensional parameters were 7.4% for
Nusselt number and 10% for friction factor. The uncertainty in
the pressure had a corresponding estimated uncertainty of 5%,
whereas the uncertainty in temperature measurement at the
tube wall was about 0.5%. The experimental results were repro-
ducible within these uncertainty ranges.
2.4. Data reduction
In the present work, the water is used as working uid and o-
wed through a circular tube with uniform heat ux conditions. At
steady state, the heat absorbed by cold water is assumed to be
equal to the convective heat transfer from the test section which
can be expressed as:
The heat supplied by electrical winding in the test tube is found to
be 37% higher than the heat absorbed by the uid for thermal
equilibrium test due to convection and radiation heat losses from
the test section to surroundings. Thus, only the heat transfer rate
absorbed by the uid is taken for internal convective heat transfer
coefcient calculation. The convective heat transfer from the test
section can be written by
Q conv hA Te w  T b 3
where
T b T o T i =2 4
and
X
Te w T w =15 5
in which Tw is the local inner wall surface temperature and evalu-
ated at the outer wall surface of the tube (thermocouples embedded
in v-groove outer surfaces). In case of a copper tube, the thermal
resistance of the tube wall can be neglected and therefore the mea-
sured Tw can be approximated to be the same as the inner wall sur-
face temperature. The average wall temperatures are calculated
from 15 stations, lined between the inlet and the exit of the test
pipe. The heating surface area, A based on the inner tube diameter
(D) was used in all calculations for tube with/without twisted tapes.
The average heat transfer coefcient, h and the average Nusselt
number, Nu are estimated as follows:

Q water Q conv 1 h MC p;water T o  T i =A Te w  T b 6

where Nu hD=k 7
Q water MC p;water T o  T i 2 The Reynolds number is given by
1368 S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372

Re qUD=l 8 0.12
0.11 Plain tube
Three parameters of interest for the present case are: (1) friction Blasius equation
factor, (2) Nusselt number, and (3) enhancement index (g). The fric- 0.10
tion factor, f is computed by pressure drop, Dp across the length of 0.09
the test section, L as
0.08
DP 0.07
f   2  9
L U
q 0.06

D 2
in which U is mean axial velocity of the test tube. All of thermo-
physical properties of the water are determined at the overall bulk
water temperature (Tb) from Eq. (4).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Plain tube verication
Comparison between the present experimental work and corre-
lations from the previous work [16] of the plain tube is presented
in Figs. 3 and 4. In these gures, the Nusselt number and friction
factor of the present work reasonably agree well with the available
correlations within 7.4% for Nusselt number and within 12% for
friction factor. The present results are correlated with the Nusselt
number and friction factor for the plain tube as follows:
Nu 0:028Re0:78
p Pr 0:4
f 0:448Rep0:275
3.2. Effect of alternate clockwise and counter-clockwise twisted tape
Effect of the novel alternate clockwise and counter-clockwise
twisted tapes (CCC twisted tapes) at various twist ratios, y/
w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 on the Nusselt number is illustrated in Fig. 5.
For all runs, Nusselt number is consistently increased with increas-
ing Reynolds number. This is due to the fact that the rise of Rey-
nolds number leads to an increase in degree of turbulence
intensity and then improvement of convection heat transfer.
Hence, Nusselt number or heat transfer coefcient becomes higher
with higher Reynolds number. At a certain Reynolds number and a
twist ratio, the use of the CCC twisted-tape yields a higher heat
transfer rate than that of the typical one. This means that the
CCC twisted-tapes provide superior chaotic mixing and more
efcient interruption of thermal boundary layer as described by
previous work [14]. Thus, boundary layer along the tube wall, in
200
Plain tube
180 Dittus & Boelter equation
160
140
120
Nu
f
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.00
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Re
Fig. 4. Friction factor validation for plain tube.
the tube equipped with CCC twisted-tape is thinner, resulting in
more heat ow through the uid. This result can be attributed to
the following reasons. Firstly, the periodic change of swirl direction
from clockwise to counterclockwise directions and vice versa,
10 causes the sudden change of uid arrangement, giving better uid
11 mixing and uniform temperature. Secondly, both upper and lower
twisted wings, prepared for the change of swirl direction, play a
role as ow separators by dividing two uid streams into four
streams, which are recombined behind the changing point, causing
a strong collision between the streams. Over the range investi-
gated, the Nusselt numbers in the tube with CCC twisted-tapes
are 27.390.5% and 12.841.9% higher than those in the plain tube
and the tube with typical twisted tapes, respectively.
Fig. 6 shows the relationship between the friction factor and
Reynolds number in the tube tted with the CCC twisted-tape.
For similar operating conditions, the friction factor of the CCC
twisted-tape is higher than that of the typical one or of the plain
tube. As for Nusselt number, the periodic change of swirl direction
in the tube with the CCC twisted-tape is expected to amplify the
ow uctuations that directly result in the increase in friction loss
of uid ow. Under similar operating conditions, friction factors for
the CCC twisted-tape, are increased by a factor of 3.425.1 and
2.443.59 times above those for the plain tube and the typical
twisted-tape, respectively.
It should be noted that unusual results are obtained at some
operating conditions, for example, the CCC twisted tape with y/
w = 5.0 and h = 90o offers higher heat transfer rate but lower fric-
tion factor compared to the typical tape with y/w = 3.0. The most
likely reason is that, the free space at the cut position of CCC
twisted tapes play a key role on friction factor reduction, while
an abrupt change of swirl direction introduced by the CCC tape
maintains an efcient mixing. Therefore, at some specic condi-
tions, the CCC tapes have a potential to simultaneously provide
a higher heat transfer rate and a lower friction loss than the typical

100
twisted tape. However, it should be kept in mind that, such a situ-
80
ation is found for the use of the CCC twisted tape with larger twist
60 ratio compared to that of the typical twisted tape.
40
20 3.3. Effect of twist ratio
0
Results of Nusselt number in a circular tube with typical
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
twisted-tape inserts at twist ratios (y/w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0) are also
Re
displayed in Fig. 5. The results show that at the same Reynolds
Fig. 3. Nusselt number validation for plain tube. number, the use of small twist ratio (y/w = 3.0) leads to higher Nus-
 S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372 1369

300 0.5
C-CC, y/w=3.0 =30 = 30 C-CC, y/w=3.0
C-CC, y/w=4.0 C-CC, y/w=4.0
250
C-CC, y/w=5.0 0.4 C-CC, y/w=5.0
y/w=3.0 y/w=3.0
200 y/w=4.0 y/w=4.0
y/w=5.0 0.3 y/w=5.0
Plain tube Plain tube
150
0.2
100

0.1
50

0 0
C-CC, y/w=3.0 =60 = 60 C-CC, y/w=3.0
C-CC, y/w=4.0 C-CC, y/w=4.0
250 0.4
C-CC, y/w=5.0 C-CC, y/w=5.0
y/w=3.0 y/w=3.0
200 y/w=4.0 y/w=4.0
y/w=5.0 0.3 y/w=5.0
Plain tube Plain tube
Nu

150

f
0.2
100

0.1
50

0 0
C-CC, y/w=3.0 =90 = 90 C-CC, y/w=3.0
C-CC, y/w=4.0 C-CC, y/w=4.0
250 0.4
C-CC, y/w=5.0 C-CC, y/w=5.0
y/w=3.0 y/w=3.0
200 y/w=4.0 y/w=4.0
y/w=5.0 0.3 y/w=5.0
Plain tube Plain tube
150
0.2
100

0.1
50

0 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Re Re
Fig. 5. Variation of Nusselt number with Reynolds number for various twisted Fig. 6. Variation of friction factor with Reynolds number for various twisted tapes.
tapes.

selt number than that of larger twist ratios (y/w = 4.0 and 5.0). This
implies that the heat transfer rate increases with decreasing tape
pitch length, this trend is found to be true for both the CCC and
the typical tapes. Justied by the data trend, it can be inferred that
the smaller twist ratio can induces the stronger swirl ow leading
to thinner boundary layers along the tube wall. Consequently, heat
can be transferred more efciently over the thinner boundary
layer. Moreover, the resident time of the ow increases with the
smaller twist ratio due to longer ow path. Thus, the working uid
has long time for exchanging heat between the core and the wall
regions. The Nusselt numbers for the CCC twisted-tapes at y/
w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 are, respectively, 51.590.5%, 38.570.9% and
27.356%, higher than those for the plain tube, which are corre-
spondingly 13.241.9%, 14.340.6% and 12.838% higher than
those for the typical twisted-tapes at the same twist ratio.
The inuence of twist ratio (y/w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0) on friction
factor for the plain tube tted with typical twisted-tapes is exhib-
ited in Fig. 6. The results reveal that the friction factor tends to in-
crease with decreasing twist ratio which is in a similar trend for
Nusselt number versus twist ratio (Fig. 5). This conrms that the
high heat transfer rate is accompanied by the high friction loss.
The friction loss may be caused by axial ow and tangential ow
contact, the latter is mainly generated by swirl ow due to the
presence of twisted tape. As mentioned earlier, besides a longer
ow path, the tape with shorter pitch length induces stronger swirl
ow. This leads to higher tangential contact between the swirling
ow and the tube surface resulting in higher friction loss. It is vis-
ible that the mean friction factor of the CCC twisted tape with y/
w = 3.0 is found to be 19.6% and 32.8%, higher than those with y/
w = 4.0 and 5.0, respectively.
1370 S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372

3.4. Effect of twist angle of CCC twisted tape 0.45

=90
Effect of twist angle (h) of the CCC twisted tape on the heat trans- 0.4 =60
fer in a heat exchanger is presented in Fig. 7. The obtained results re- =30
0.35 y/w=3.0
veal that the Nusselt number (heat transfer rate) increases as twist
Plain tube
angle increases. According to geometry of the CCC tape, at higher 0.3
twist angle, the larger portions of uid are directed to the opposing
0.25
direction in the region of the change, leading to the stronger collision

f
of the recombined streams. Moreover, the higher twist angle offers 0.2
the larger difference of plane direction for the adjacent twist lengths,
providing more effective disturbance to the owing uid. This di- 0.15
rectly inhibits the developing thermal boundary layer, resulting in
0.1
enhancing of heat transfer inside the heat exchanger. In the range
studied, the CCC twisted tape with twist angle, h = 90o provides a 0.05
maximum heat transfer rate with Nusselt numbers higher than
those obtained from h = 30o and 60o, around 2224.9% and 911%, 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
respectively. It is noteworthy that the use of the CCC twisted-tapes
with h = 30o, 60o and 90o, shows capability to increase Nusselt num- Re
bers of 27.351.5%, 40.771.9% and 5690.5% over the plain tube.
Fig. 8. Variation of friction factor with Reynolds number for various twist angles at
The effect of twist angle (h) of CCC twisted-tapes on friction y/w = 3.0.
factor is shown in Fig. 8 and found to be the same trend as for Nus-
selt number (Fig. 7). Depending on the Reynolds number, the in-
creases in friction factor for twist angles of h = 30o, 60o and 90o 300
are about 2.74.0, 3.14.65, and 3.425.1 times above the plain
tube. In addition, the CCC twisted-tape with h = 90o provides 250
higher friction factors than ones with h = 30o and 60o around 24
25.4% and 9.911.8%, respectively.
The Nusselt number and the friction factor for using the CCC 200
Nu (Predicted)

twisted-tape at various twist ratios (y/w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0) and dif-
ferent twist angles, h = 30o, 60o and 90o, are correlated as follows: 150
+15%
Nu 0:31Re0:6
s Pr
0:4
y=w0:36 1 sin h0:44 12
100
f 46:39Re0:544
s y=w0:77 1 sin h0:45 13 -15%

Comparisons between the Nusselt number and the friction factor 50

obtained from the measurements and those from the correlations,
Eqs. (12) and (13) are portrayed in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively.
0
The majority of the data fall within 15% for both the present cor-
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
relations of heat transfer (Nu) and friction factor (f).
Nu (Experimental)
3.5. Heat transfer enhancement index Fig. 9. Comparison between Nu measured and Nu predicted by correlation.

Heat transfer enhancement index or thermal performance fac-

tor is one of the key parameters in design of heat exchangers. A 0.5

300 0.4
=90
=60
250
f (Predicted)

=30 0.3
y/w=3.0
200 Plain tube
+15%
0.2
Nu

150 -15%
0.1
100

0
50 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
f (Experimental)
0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 Fig. 10. Comparison between f measured and f predicted by correlation.

Re

Fig. 7. Variation of Nusselt number with Reynolds number for various twist angles comparison between swirl ow (in tube with twisted tape or swirl
at y/w = 3.0. generator) and straight ow (in plain tube) is usually made by
 S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372 1371

comparing heat transfer coefcients at identical pumping power, 1.6

since this is relevant to the operation cost. For equal pumping = 30 C-CC, y/w=3.0
power C-CC, y/w=4.0
1.4 C-CC, y/w=5.0
V_ DPp V_ DPs 14 y/w=3.0
y/w=4.0
and the relationship between friction and Reynolds number can be
1.2 y/w=5.0
expressed as:
3 3
fRe p fRe s 15
1
The enhancement index (g) at constant pumping power is the ratio
of the convective heat transfer coefcient of the tube with the CCC
twisted-tape to the plain tube which can be written as follows: 0.8

h
g s  16
hp pp
0.6
Using Eqs. (11), (13), and (15), the Reynolds number for the plain = 60 C-CC, y/w=3.0
tube (Rep) can be written as a function of the Reynolds number C-CC, y/w=4.0
for the CCC twisted-tape (Res): 1.4 C-CC, y/w=5.0
y/w=3.0
Rep 5:49Re0:9 0:283
1 sin h0:165

Enhancement index
s y=w 17 y/w=4.0
1.2 y/w=5.0
Employing Eqs. (10), (12), (16), and (17), the enhancement index for
the CCC twisted-tape can be written as [17]:

g 2:93Re0:1 y=w0:14 1 sin h0:31 18 1

s

The variation of heat transfer enhancement index (g) results calcu-

lated via Eq. (18) with Reynolds number is shown in Fig. 11. It is vis- 0.8
ible in the gure that the enhancement index increases with
decreasing Reynolds number and twist ratio (y/w), but increasing
twist angle (h). Over the present Reynolds number range, the C 0.6
CC twisted-tape with y/w = 3.0 provides all the enhancement index = 90 C-CC, y/w=3.0
values over unity, regardless of twist angle (h). The same situation is C-CC, y/w=4.0
also found for the CCC twisted-tapes with h = 60o and 90o, regard- 1.4 C-CC, y/w=5.0
less of twist ratio. This indicates that the use of the mentioned CCC y/w=3.0
twisted-tapes has potential for energy saving. The highest enhance- y/w=4.0
ment index values of the CCC twisted-tapes with y/w = 3.0, 4.0 and 1.2 y/w=5.0
5.0, are found to be 1.28, 1.23 and 1.19 for h = 30o, 1.37, 1.31 and
1.27 for h = 60o, and 1.4, 1.34 and 1.3 for h = 90o while those of
the typical twisted-tape with the corresponding twist ratio are 1
found to be 1.13, 1.08 and 1.05, respectively.
At smallest twist ratio, y/w = 3.0, the CCC twisted-tape with the
highest twist angle, h = 90o, yields higher mean enhancement index 0.8
than those with smaller twist angles, h = 30o and 60o around 9.3%
and 2.2%, respectively (Fig. 12). Interestingly, the enhancement in-
dex values of the CCC twisted tape with twist angle, h = 60o and 0.6
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
90o, are considerably higher than those with h = 30o. This can be con-
cluded that the modied twisted tapes become effective for energy Re
saving, where the large portions of uid are directed to the opposing
Fig. 11. Variation of enhancement index with Reynolds number (Re) for various
direction in the region of the change. All enhancement index values twisted tapes.
for the present work are summarized in Table 1.
ratio, y/w = 3.0 causes higher turbulence/swirl ow and yields
4. Conclusions heat transfer rate up to 90.5% over the plain tube. In addition,
the CCC twisted-tape provides higher Nusselt number and fric-
In the present work, an experimental study has been conducted tion factor than the typical twisted-tape at about 12.841.9%
to investigate the heat transfer enhancement by means of twisted- and 12.541.5%, respectively.
tape inserts with alternate clockwise and counterclockwise rota- 2. Over the range studied, the Nusselt numbers for the tube with
tion arrangement (CCC twisted-tape arrangement) in a circular CCC twisted-tape inserts at y/w = 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 are respec-
tube under a uniform heat ux condition. From the experimental tively, 51.590.5%, 38.570.9% and 27.356%, higher than those
results, the conclusions can be drawn as follows: for the plain tube. For the CCC twisted-tape at y/w = 3.0, the
Nusselt numbers are around 911% and 18.721.6% while the
1. In the presence of novel alternate CCC twisted-tapes, the peri- friction factors are about 2326% and 47.351% higher than
odic change of swirl direction and also the strong collision of those with y/w = 4.0 and 5.0, respectively.
the recombined streams behind the changing location, lead to 3. The heat transfer enhancement index (g) tends to increase with
superior chaotic mixing and to better heat transfer, compared decreasing Reynolds number and/or twist ratio (y/w), but to
with the typical twisted-tape. The CCC twisted-tape with twist decrease with reducing twist angle (h). The highest enhance-
1372 S. Eiamsa-ard, P. Promvonge / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 13641372

1.6 References
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