CFD Analysis of Ribbed Double Pipe Heat Exchanger

This study aims at simulating the flow in a ribbed double pipe heat exchanger both
numerically and analytically and to analyze the accompanying thermo fluid
mechanisms. Two procedures were developed to model the heat transfer and the
pressure drop, analytical and numerical.
The analytical procedure employs empirical equations and correlations governing the
flow. The equations were compiled in a MATLAB code to be solved. The numerical
procedure is based on simulating the flow using FLUNET to obtain details of the
velocity, temperature and pressure distribution across the flow channel. These values
were then used to evaluate the friction fuctor and Stanton number from their
fundamental relations using MATLAB
The results from both procedures showed good agreement with the experimental
results. At a Reynolds number range of2000-20,000, heat transfer was found to be
enhanced by more than 4 times at an expense of increasing pressure drop of more
than 26 times.
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