The Heat Transfer Characteristics of Varied-Section Tube Heat Exchanger

The varied-section tube heat exchanger (VSTHE) that enhances the shell-side and tube-side heat transfer simultaneously provides high heat transfer performance, cuts tube vibration failures and saves material since it does not require tube-support elements. Experiments were conducted on the baffle shell-and-tube heat exchanger (STHE) and VSTHE under different flow rates to compare the heat transfer performance and pressure drop. The air side Nusselt number (Nu) and the overall heat transfer coefficient per pressure drop of VSTHE are approximately 20% and 25% respectively greater than that of the baffle STHE at the same Rea. The experimental results show that the performance of VSTHEs is superior to that of the baffle STHEs. The experimental heat transfer correlation for VSTHEs is obtained, which provides reference for further study on VSTHEs.