Irreversibility Analysis and Numerical Simulation in a Finned-Tube Heat Exchanger Equipped with Block Shape Vortex Generator

In this paper the effect of block shape Vortex Generators (VGs) on an air-water finned-tube heat exchanger has been studied experimentally using exergy analysis method. Also the effect of these VGs on increasing heat transfer rate has been simulated numerically and the results indicate a good agreement with the experiments. In this research a wind tunnel is used to produce wind flow over heat exchanger in the range of 0.054 kg/s to 0.069 kg/s. The steady volume flow rate of hot water is 240 L/h with the temperature of 44oC to 68oC. These experiments have been carried out with and without VGs on the heat exchanger. Results demonstrate that using the VGs has reduced Air Side Irreversibility to Heat transfer Ratio (ASIHR). To reveal the effect of VGs on heat exchanger performance with respect to reducing ASIHR, a quantity is used namely Performance of Vortex Generator (PVG). The calculated PVG values are less than 15% to over 35% which confirm the satisfactory effects of VGs on heat exchanger performance.