Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 32 (2007) 332340

www.elsevier.com/locate/etfs

Heat transfer augmentation in a circular tube using V-nozzle

turbulator inserts and snail entry
a,* b,1
Pongjet Promvonge , Smith Eiamsa-ard
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok 10530, Thailand

Received 16 July 2006; received in revised form 24 February 2007; accepted 22 April 2007

Abstract

Inuences of V-nozzle turbulator inserts in conjunction with a snail entry on heat transfer and friction loss characteristics in a circular
tube are experimentally investigated in this paper. In the present work, a set of converging-diverging nozzles like a venturi structure
(referred to as V-nozzle) used as a turbulator/reverse-ow generator is placed inside the test tube through which air as the test uid
is passed. Also, the snail is mounted at the tube entrance to create a decaying swirl ow. The eects of the snail entry and insertion
of V-nozzles with three dierent pitch ratios, PR = 2.0, 4.0, and 7.0 on heat transfer rate in the tube are examined for the Reynolds num-
ber ranging from 8000 to 18,000. The experimental results are displayed in terms of Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor (f) as a
function of Reynolds number (Re). The values of Nusselt number and friction factor for utilizing both the V-nozzle and the snail entry
are found to be considerably higher than that for using the V-nozzle alone or the plain tube. The use of PR = 2.0 leads to higher Nusselt
number and friction factor values than that of PR = 4.0 or 7.0. To assess the real benets in using the turbulator and the swirl generator
of the enhanced tube, empirical correlations in terms of Re and PR for Nusselt number, friction factor and performance evaluation cri-
teria are also determined.
2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Heat transfer enhancement; Swirl ow; Reverse ow; Turbulator; V-nozzle; Snail; Pitch ratio (PR=1 + S)

1. Introduction and increasing turbulence intensity; (2) increase in heat

The need for high-performance thermal systems in many
engineering applications has stimulated considerable inter-
est in nding various methods to improve heat transfer in
the system. The conventional heat exchangers are generally
improved by means of various augmentation techniques
with emphasis on many types of surface enhancements.
Augmented surfaces can create one or more combinations
of the following conditions that are favorable for the
increase in heat transfer rate with an undesirable rise of
friction: (1) interruption of boundary layer development
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +662 3264197; fax: +662 3264198.
E-mail addresses: kppongje@kmitl.ac.th (P. Promvonge), smith@
mut.ac.th (S. Eiamsa-ard).
1
Tel./fax: +662 9883666x241.
transfer area; and (3) generating of swirling and/or second-
ary ows. To date, many studies have been emphasized on
passive heat-transfer enhancement methods and the uid
ow. Reverse/swirl ow devices form an important group
of the passive augmentation techniques. The reverse ow,
sometimes called recirculation ow, device or the turbu-
lator is widely employed in heat transfer engineering appli-
cations. This is because the convection heat transfer along
the tube wall can be improved signicantly by introducing
the reverse/re-circulation ow to increase the eective axial
Reynolds number and decrease the cross-sectional area of
ow, leading to an increase in the mean velocity and tem-
perature gradient. The reverse ow cannot only induce
the higher heat uxes and momentum transfer due to the
large eective driving potential force but also the higher
pressure drop. The strength of reverse ow and the

0894-1777/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.expthermusci.2007.04.010
 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 32 (2007) 332340
Nomenclature
A heat transfer surface area of test tube [m2]
Cp specic heat [J/kg K]
D inner diameter of test tube [m]
f friction factor
h heat transfer coecient [W/m2K]
I current [A]
k thermal conductivity of air [W/m K]
L length of the test section [m]
m_ mass ow rate [kg/s]
Nu Nusselt number
DP pressure drop [Pa]
PR pitch ratio [1 + S]
Pr Prandtl number
Q heat transfer rate [W]
Re Reynolds number
t thickness of test tube [m]
T temperature [C]
Te average temperature [C]
s space length [m]
S space ratio [s/D]
reattached position are the main interest in many heat
transfer applications such as heat exchangers, combustion
chambers, gas turbine blades, and electronic devices. Yakut
et al. [1] experimentally investigated the eect of conical-
ring turbulators on the turbulent heat transfer, pressure
drop and ow-induced vibrations. Their experiments were
analyzed and presented in terms of the thermal perfor-
mances of the heat-transfer promoters with respect to their
heat-transfer enhancement eciencies for a constant
pumping power. Yakut and Sahin [2] again reported the
ow-induced vibration characteristics of conical-ring tur-
bulators used for heat transfer enhancement in heat
exchangers. They found that the Nusselt number increases
with the rise of Reynolds number and the maximum heat
transfer is obtained for the smallest pitch arrangement.
Durmus [3] also studied the eect of cutting out conical tur-
bulators, placed in a heat exchange tube, on the heat trans-
fer rate with four dierent types of turbulators and dierent
conical-angles and reported that the heat transfer improve-
ment depends on the type and the angle of the turbulators.
Ayhan et al. [4] numerically and experimentally examined
the heat transfer augmentation in a tube by means of trun-
cated hollow cone inserts. Eiamsa-ard and Promvonge [5]
reported an eect of the V-nozzle turbulators on heat trans-
fer rate in a circular tube and suggested that the nozzles has
a signicant eect on heat transfer enhancement. This indi-
cates the crucial eect of the reverse/re-circulation ow can
promote the heat transfer rate in tubes. Promvonge and
Eiamsa-ard [6] again investigated the eect of conical-noz-
zle and snail entrance on heat transfer and friction charac-
teristics in a uniform heat ux tube and found that the heat
333
U average axial velocity of test tube [m/s]
V voltage [volt]
V_ volume ow rate [m3/s]
Greek symbols
g enhancement eciency
q density [kg/m3]
l dynamic viscosity [Ns/m2]
Subscripts
a air
b bulk
conv convection
in inlet
o outer
out outlet
p plain tube
pp pumping work
t turbulator
w wall
transfer rate increases considerably for using both enhance-
ment devices.
In general, the swirl ow generator is used in augmen-
tative heat transfer in several engineering applications to
enhance the rate of the heat and mass transfer equipment
such as heat exchanger, vortex combustor, drying process,
etc. The methods of generating swirl can be classied into
three main categories. The rst is the tangential ow injec-
tion to induce a swirling uid motion along the tube [7
10]. The second is the guide vanes swirl generators
[11,12] classied into two types: the radial guide vane
and the axial guide vane. The last one is the direct rotation
of the tube.
The above literature review indicates that both enhance-
ment devices, the conical-nozzle turbulator and the snail
swirl generator, are among the most eective and practical
methods for augmenting heat transfer in tubes. The pur-
pose of this study is to investigate the heat transfer and
ow friction characteristics in a circular tube equipped with
both the V-nozzle turbulator and the snail swirl generator.
In the present study, the snail/swirl generator (tangential
ow injection) [6,13] is tted at the entrance of the tube
and is expected to increase the tangential ow velocity, pro-
long the residence time of the ow in the tube and thin the
boundary layer. The V-nozzles are placed inside the test
tube at three pitch ratios (PR), dened as a ratio of pitch
length to tube diameter; PR = 2.0, 4.0, and 7.0. The present
experimental results are also compared with the results
from using the V-nozzle turbulator or the snail swirl gener-
ator alone in another work [5,6]. All of the experiments are
carried out at the same inlet conditions with the Reynolds
334 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 32 (2007) 332340

number, based on the test tube diameter, in a range of tube wall surfaces (embedded in v-groove tube surfaces)
800018,000. and the thermocouples were placed round the tube to mea-
sure the circumferential temperature variation, which was
found to be negligible. The mean wall temperature was
2. Experimental description
determined by means of calculations based on the reading
of the type-K thermocouples. Fig. 2 represented the V-noz-
2.1. Experimental setup
zle arrangement used in the present work. The V-nozzle
made of aluminum is 95 mm (2.0D) long and its end and
The experiments were conducted to examine the eect of
throat diameters were 46 mm and 26 mm, respectively.
using snail entry and V-nozzle inserts on heat transfer and
The V-nozzles were placed with three dierent free-space
uid ow characteristics of air ow in a tube. A schematic
lengths, s of arrangements, having s = 47.5 mm (PR =
diagram of the experimental setup is illustrated in Fig. 1.
2.0), s = 142.5 mm (PR = 4.0), and s = 205 mm (PR =
The ow system consisted of a 7.5 kW blower, orice meter
7.0), for each experiment. The test tube was tted tightly
to measure the ow rate, the 2200 mm calming section tube
with the V-nozzle turbulator by compression to prevent
and the heat transfer test section. The copper test tube has
its movement and to reduce thermal contact resistance
a length of L = 1250 mm, with 47.5 mm inner diameter
between the turbulator and the tube surface. For all cases
(D), 50.5 mm outer diameter (Do), and 1.5 mm tube thick-
of test runs, a snail type swirl generator was mounted at
ness (t) as depicted in Fig. 2. The tube was heated by con-
the entrance of the test tube to create swirling ow as seen
tinually winding exible electrical wire provided a uniform
in Fig. 2. In this experiment, the combination of the two
heat ux boundary condition. The electrical output power
phenomena: (1) the re-circulating ow induced by the V-
was controlled by a variac transformer to obtain a constant
nozzles and (2) the swirling ow created by the snail, are
heat ux along the entire length of the test section and by
supposed to be eective in the vicinity of the tube wall,
keeping the current less than 3 A. The outer surface of the
where thermal resistance is high. Furthermore, the com-
test tube was well insulated to minimize convective heat
bined techniques are expected to provide better chaotic
loss to surroundings, and necessary precautions were taken
mixing and rotating of the uid in this region as well as
to prevent leakages from the system. The inner and outer
causing increased viscous dissipation, thereby enhancing
temperatures of the bulk air were measured at certain
the heat transfer rate.
points with a multi-channel temperature measurement unit
in conjunction with the type-K thermocouples as can be
seen in Fig. 2. In the experiment, two thermocouples were 2.2. Experimental procedure
placed at 1860 mm (40D) upstream of the test section for
measuring inlet air temperature while at 93 mm down- In the apparatus setting above, the inlet bulk air at 25 C
stream of the test section for measuring outlet air temper- from a 7.5 kW blower was directed through the orice
ature. Fifteen thermocouples were lined up along the test meter and passed to the heat transfer test section. The air

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of experimental heat transfer setup.

 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 32 (2007) 332340
Fig. 2. Test tube tted with V-nozzle turbulators and snail entry.
ow rate was measured by an orice meter, built according
to ASME standard [14]. Manometric uid was used in U-
tube manometers with specic gravity (SG) of 0.826 to
ensure reasonably accurate measurement of the low pres-
sure drop encountered at low Reynolds numbers. Also,
the pressure drops across the heat transfer test tube and
across the snail were measured with inclined U-tube
manometers. The volumetric air ow rates from the blower
were adjusted by varying motor speed through an inverter,
situated before the inlet of test tube. Both the inlet and out-
let temperatures of the bulk air from the tube were mea-
sured by multi-channel type-K thermocouples, calibrated
within 0.2 C deviation by thermostat before being used.
It was necessary to measure the temperature at 15 stations
altogether on the surface of the heat transfer test pipe for
nding out the average Nusselt number.
For each test run, it was necessary to record the data of
temperature, volumetric ow rate and pressure drop of the
bulk air at steady state conditions in which the inlet air
temperature was maintained at 25 C. The various charac-
teristics of the ow, the Nusselt number, and the Reynolds
numbers were based on the average of tube wall tempera-
ture, inlet and outlet air temperatures. The local wall tem-
perature, inlet and outlet air temperature, the pressure
drop across the test section and air ow velocity were mea-
sured for the heated tube with combined V-nozzles and
snail entrance. The average Nusselt number and friction
factor were calculated and discussed where all uid proper-
ties were determined at the overall bulk mean temperature.
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 are 5%, 10% and 15% for Reynolds num-
ber, Nusselt number and friction factor, respectively. The
uncertainty in the axial velocity measurement by a hot wire
anemometer was estimated to be less than 7%, and pres-
sure has a corresponding estimated uncertainty of 5%,
335
whereas the uncertainty in temperature measurement at
the tube wall was about 0.5%. The experimental results
were reproducible within these uncertainty ranges.
3. Data reduction
In the present work, the air is used as a working uid
and owed through a uniform heat ux and insulation
tube. The steady state of the heat transfer rate is assumed
to be equal to the heat loss from the test section which
can be expressed as:
Qa Qconv 1
where
Qa mC
_ p;a T out  T in 2
The heat supplied by electrical winding in the test tube is
found to be 58% 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 coecient calcu-
lation. The convection heat transfer from the test section
can be written by:
Qconv hA Te w  T b 3
where
T b T out T in =2 4
and
X
Te w T w =15 5
in which Tw is the local wall temperature and evaluated at
the outer wall surface of the inner 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 measured Tw can be approxi-
mated to be the same as the inner wall surface temperature.
336 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 32 (2007) 332340

The average wall temperatures are calculated from 15 200

points, lined between the inlet and the exit of the test pipe. V-nozzle and Snail, PR=2.0
180 V-nozzle and Snail, PR=4.0
The heating surface area, A based on the inner tube diam- V-nozzle and Snail, PR=7.0
eter (D) was used in all calculations for tube with/without 160 Dittus-Boelter equation
Plain tube
turbulators. The average heat transfer coecient, h and the
average Nusselt number, Nu are estimated as follows: 140

Nusselt number
120
_ p;a T out  T in =A Te w  T b
h mC 6
Nu hD=k 7 100

The Reynolds number is given by 80

Re UD=m 8 60

Friction factor, f can be written as: 40

DP 20
f 9
L=DqU 2 =2
0
8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
in which U is mean velocity of the tube. All of thermal Reynolds number
properties of the tested uid are determined at the overall
bulk air temperature, (Tout + Tin)/2. Fig. 3. Eect of pitch ratio on Nusselt number for V-nozzle inserts and
snail entry.

4. Experimental results and discussion

4.1. Verication of plain tube 10

V-nozzle and Snail, PR=2.0
9 V-nozzle and Snail, PR=4.0
The present experimental results on Nusselt number and V-nozzle and Snail, PR=7.0
friction factor values in the plain tube without the V-nozzle 8 Blasius equation
Plain tube
inserts and snail entrance are rst reported. The plain tube 7
data are obtained to provide a reference against which the
Friction factor

reverse/swirl data can be compared and to ensure that the 6

plain tube data obtained from this system agree with pre- 5
dictions obtained from correlations in the open literature
[16]. Verications for this plain tube can be also found in 4
another work [5]. The Nusselt number and the friction fac-
3
tor for the plain tube in the present work are compared
with the previous correlations of Dittus-Boelter and of Bla- 2
sius for the fully developed turbulent ow in circular tubes,
1
as can be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. Nusselt num-
ber correlation of Dittus-Boelter [16]: 0
8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
4=5 0:4 Reynolds number
Nu 0:023Re Pr for Re > 10; 000 10
Friction factor correlation of Blasius [16]: Fig. 4. Eect of pitch ratio on friction factor for V-nozzle inserts and snail
entry.
f 0:316Re0:25 for Re 6 20; 000 11
In the gures, results of the present work reasonably
with a snail entry of various pitch ratios (PR) are presented
agree well with the mentioned correlations with error limits
in the form of Nusselt number, Nu and friction factor, f.
of 12% for friction factor and of 7% for Nusselt num-
The results obtained under turbulent ow conditions for
ber. The present Nusselt number and friction factor for
three pitch ratios are also presented in Figs. 3 and 4.
the plain tube are correlated as follows:
Fig. 3 illustrates the variation of the average Nusselt
Nu 0:0135Re0:85 Pr0:4 12 number with Reynolds number for three pitch ratios
f 0:423Re 0:275
13 (PR = 2.0, 4.0, and 7.0) using the V-nozzle turbulators
along with the snail entry. In the gure, the heat transfer
rate tends to increase considerably with the rise of Rey-
4.2. Eect of pitch ratio nolds number for employing both enhancement devices.
A close examination reveals that the heat transfer rate at
The present results on heat and uid ow characteristics the smaller pitch ratio is higher than that at the greater
in a uniform heat ux tube with V-nozzle inserts together one over the Reynolds number range studied. This can be
 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 32 (2007) 332340 337

explained that the turbulence intensity and the ow path 4.3. Inuence of snail entry
obtained from utilizing the smaller pitch ratio are greater
and longer than that at the larger one and the appearance The present results are compared with earlier published
of reverse ow between two adjacent V-nozzle elements, measurements for using the V-nozzle turbulators alone
leading to higher temperature gradients. In addition, due deduced from [5], conical-ring turbulator obtained from
to the swirl/reverse ow and lower ow cross-sectional [1], and using the snail entry alone taken from [6]. Compar-
area, the better chaotic mixing of uid between the core isons of the heat transfer and friction loss in: (1) tube with
and the wall regions induced by the generated centrifugal V-nozzle turbulator alone; (2) tube with conical-ring turbu-
force has a signicant capability to enhance the heat trans- lator; (3) tube with snail entry and (4) tube with combined
fer rate. It is worth noting that the tube tted with the tur- V-nozzle turbulator and snail entry are depicted in Figs. 5
bulators and the swirl generator can promote more heat and 6, respectively. It is visible in Fig. 5 that the tube with a
transfer rate than the plain tube around 294%, 258% and combination of V-nozzles and snail entrance provides
244% for PR = 2.0, 4.0 and 7.0, respectively. For the lowest higher heat transfer rate than the tube tted with either
pitch ratio (PR = 2.0), the increase in heat transfer rate is the V-nozzle or the snail alone. This can be attributed to
in the range of 229294% over the plain tube for the Rey-
nolds number ranging from 8000 to 18,000. Also, similar
trends are found for other pitch ratios and the improve- 260
Conical-ring, PR=2.0 [1]
ment for using PR = 2.0 is seen to be about 1215% and 240 V-nozzle and Snail, PR=2.0
1723% higher than for using PR = 4.0 and PR = 7.0, 220 V-nozzle and Snail, PR=4.0
V-nozzle and Snail, PR=7.0
respectively. The result of the Nusselt number for utilizing 200 V-nozzle, PR=2.0 [5]
V-nozzle turbulators and the snail entry is correlated as 180 V-nozzle, PR=4.0 [5]
follows: Nusselt number
V-nozzle, PR=7.0 [5]
160 Plain tube
Snail [6]
0:22 140
Nu 0:37Re0:635 Pr0:4 PR 14
120
100
The eect of using the V-nozzle turbulator in common
80
with the snail entrance on the total pressure drop that
includes the pressure drop across the test pipe and across 60
the snail is presented in Fig. 4. The variation of the total 40
pressure drop is shown in terms of friction factor with Rey- 20
nolds number for various pitch ratios. In the gure, the 0
friction factor tends to decrease with the rise of Reynolds 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
number and pitch ratio values. It is interesting to note that Reynolds number
there is a favorable reduction in the friction factor with Fig. 5. Variation of Nusselt number with Reynolds number for various
PR = 4.0 and 7.0, in comparison with PR = 2.0. The enhancement devices.
increase in friction factor with the reverse/swirl turbulent
ow, however, is much higher than that with the axial ow.
12
This can be attributed to the dissipation of dynamic pres- Conical-ring, PR=2.0 [1]
sure of the uid due to higher surface area and the act 11 V-nozzle and Snail, PR=2.0
V-nozzle and Snail, PR=4.0
caused by the reverse ow. As expected, the friction factor 10
V-nozzle and Snail, PR=7.0
obtained from the smallest pitch ratio is substantially 9 V-nozzle, PR=2.0 [5]
higher than those from the higher ones. The average V-nozzle, PR=4.0 [5]
8 V-nozzle, PR=7.0 [5]
increases in pressure losses of using the V-nozzles with
Friction factor

Plain tube
the snail entry for PR = 2.0, 4.0, and 7.0 are around 61, 7 Snail [6]

40, 22 times the plain tube, respectively. The losses mainly 6

come from: (1) higher friction of increasing surface area 5
and the blockage because of the presence of the nozzles
4
and (2) the dissipation of the dynamical pressure of the
air due to high viscous losses near the pipe wall, and to 3
the extra forces exerted by rotation. Moreover, the increase 2
in pressure drop is probably due to the secondary ows 1
occurring as a result of the interaction of pressure forces
0
with inertial forces in the boundary layer. The correlation 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
for the friction factor can be written as follows: Reynolds number
Fig. 6. Variation of friction factor with Reynolds number for various
f 59Re0:29 PR0:48 15 enhancement devices.
338 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 32 (2007) 332340

better and fast mixing of the two ow phenomena: (1) the
reverse ow from the V-nozzle and (2) swirling ow from
the snail. The presence of V-nozzles in the test tube can
be presumed to be a ribbed or grooved tube that can induce
reverse ows inside [17]. Further, a close inspection reveals
that the heat transfer augmentation from the V-nozzle
alone with PR = 4.0 is slightly higher than that from the
snail entrance. The heat transfer rate obtained from the
V-nozzle together with the snail entry is around 210%
and 512% over that from the V-nozzle alone and from
the snail entry, respectively, depending on the Reynolds
number interval.
Variation of friction factor with Reynolds number for
using various enhancement devices with PR = 2.0, 4.0,
and 7.0 is displayed in Fig. 6. In the gure, the friction fac-
tor tends to reduce with the increase in Reynolds number
and PR values for all device arrangements. The friction fac-
tor value for both the V-nozzle and the snail entry is
around 80110% higher than that for the V-nozzle alone,
depending on PR used or about 250300% over the snail.
This indicates that the presence of the snail and the V-noz-
zle leads to a substantial increase in friction losses in the
tube. It is worth noting that the friction factor value for
the V-nozzle alone with PR = 4.0 and 7.0 is lower than that
for the snail. The reduction of friction factor for the V-noz-
zle and snail entry with PR = 4.0 and 7.0 can be attributed
to the decrease in surface area from using less V-nozzle
number, leading to lower friction loss in the tube.
In addition, it can be observed that the conical-ring with
PR = 2.0 deduced from [1] provides higher heat transfer
rate and friction factor than the V-nozzle alone or together
with the snail entry. This is not surprising because the
V-nozzle is basically come from the same root as the con-
ical-ring. The V-nozzle is a compromise between the con-
verging and diverging conical-rings in order to reduce
high friction loss of the ring. It should be noted that the
V-nozzle was built in a similar form of using two conical-
nozzles mounted each other and thus, the V-nozzle is
longer twice of the conical-ring. As can be seen in Figs. 5
and 6, the heat transfer rates obtained from using the con-
ical-ring with PR = 2.0 (S = 1.0) are found to be higher
than that from the present work around 22% for Nusselt
fRe3 p fRe3 t 17
The enhancement eciency, g at constant pumping
power is the ratio of the convective heat transfer coecient
of the tube with turbulators and the snail to the plain tube
which can be written as follows:

ht 
g  18
h p pp
Using Eqs. (13), (15) and (17), the Reynolds number for the
plain tube (Rep) can be written as a function of the Rey-
nolds number for the V-nozzle turbulator and snail (Ret):
Rep 5:63Re1:014 PR
0:26
19
t
Employing Eqs. (12), (14), (18) and (19), the enhancement
eciency for the V-nozzle turbulator and the snail can be
written as:

ht  0:0012
g  6:31Re0:227
t PR 20
h p pp
The enhancement eciencies of enhancement devices for
PR = 2.0, 4.0, and 7.0, including those taken from [1,5,6]
along with Reynolds number values are depicted in
Fig. 7. In the gure, it is interesting to note that the
enhancement eciency shows a trend to reduce with the
rise of Reynolds number for all pitch ratios. The enhance-
ment eciencies of the V-nozzle alone are found to be the
highest and the conical-ring provides higher enhancement
eciency than the combined V-nozzle and snail entry.
The enhancement eciencies of the V-nozzle and snail
entry for all pitch ratios having nearly the same values,
are peak at the lowest Reynolds number and lower than
those of the V-nozzle alone and the conical-ring. The e-
ciency of the V-nozzle and snail entry is also less than that
of the snail except for Reynolds number less than 6000.
1.4
1.2
Enhancement efficiency

1
number and 58% for friction factor. This indicates the
merit of the V-nozzle in friction loss reduction, compared
0.8
with the conical-ring.
Conical-ring, PR=2.0 [1]
0.6
4.4. Enhancement evaluation V-nozzle and Snail, PR=2.0
V-nozzie and Snail, PR=4.0
0.4 V-nozzle and Snail, PR=7.0
A fruitful comparison between heat transfer coecients V-nozzle, PR=2.0 [5]
of reverse/swirl and straight ows at equal pumping power V-nozzle, PR=4.0 [5]

can be made, since this is relevant to the operation expense. 0.2 V-nozzle, PR=7.0 [5]
Snail [6]
For constant pumping power,
0
4000 8000 12000 16000 20000
V_ DP p V_ DP t 16
Reynolds number
and the relationship between friction and Reynolds number Fig. 7. Variation of enhancement eciency with Reynolds number for
can be expressed as: various enhancement devices.
 P. Promvonge, S. Eiamsa-ard / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 32 (2007) 332340 339

150 lated by the present correlations are portrayed in Figs. 8

and 9. In the gures, the majority of the measured data
falls within 10% and 15% for the present correlations
120 of the Nusselt number and the friction factor, respectively.
+10%
5. Conclusions
Predicted Nu

90 -10%
60
30
Nu=0.37Re0.635 Pr0.4(PR)-0.22
0 improvements of heat transfer rate over the corresponding
0 30 60 90 120
Experimental Nu
Fig. 8. Nusselt numbers obtained from the present correlation and
experimental data.
Enhancement eciencies for Reynolds number ranging
from 5000 to 18,000 vary between 0.71 and 0.91; 0.70
and 0.90; and 0.69 and 0.89 at PR = 2.0, 4.0, and 7.0,
respectively. This means that the combined V-nozzle turbu-
lators and snail entry are not feasible in terms of energy
saving. Though, the devices of V-nozzle turbulators and
the snail entry can be used eectively at very low Reynolds
number or in places where pumping power is not important
but compact sizes and ease of manufacture are needed.
Comparison between the Nusselt number and the fric-
tion factor obtained from the present data with those calcu-
5
Experimental investigations have been conducted to
examine the eect of V-nozzle turbulator inserts together
with a snail entry on heat transfer rate and ow friction
characteristics in a uniform heat ux tube using air as the
test uid. The application of the V-nozzles and snail entry
results in a considerable increase in heat transfer rate and
friction loss, especially at smaller pitch ratio. Depending
on the ow conditions and pitch ratios, the maximum
150 plain tube are found to be about 294%, 258% and 244%,
for PR = 2.0, 4.0, and 7.0, respectively. The enhancement
eciencies for all pitch ratios having nearly the same val-
ues, are found to be peak at the lowest Reynolds number
and lower than those of the V-nozzle alone. Except for
Reynolds number below 6000, the eciency of both the
V-nozzle and the snail entry is also lower than that of the
snail. Enhancement eciencies for Reynolds number rang-
ing from 5000 to 18000 vary between 0.71 and 0.91; 0.70
and 0.90; and 0.69 and 0.89 for PR = 2.0, 4.0 and 7.0,
respectively. In addition, the V-nozzle alone provides the
best thermal performance over other turbulator devices.
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges Prof. Kulthorn
Silapabanleng for valuable discussion and the Thailand
Research Fund (TRF) for the nancial support of this
research.
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