Alexandria Engineering Journal (2018) xxx, xxx–xxx

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Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat

exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity
inner pipe
Marwa A.M. Ali, Wael M. El-Maghlany, Yehia A. Eldrainy *, Abdelhamid Attia

Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

Received 14 November 2017; revised 21 February 2018; accepted 19 March 2018

KEYWORDS Abstract The double pipe heat exchanger type has low heat transfer rate compared with other
Numerical simulation; types of heat exchangers. Therefore, this article aims to enhance the heat transfer rate of that type
Double pipes; of heat exchanger by introducing a rotation of the heat exchanger inner pipe combined with chang-
Heat exchanger; ing the pipes eccentricity. Three dimensional, steady sate and incompressible CFD model was con-
Rotating pipes; structed for investigation of the effect of rotation and eccentricity on the heat transfer rate. A
Eccentricity; double pipe heat exchanger which was used for this study consists of an inner pipe and an outer
CFD pipe of diameter 50 mm and 150 mm respectively with a length of 2000 mm. The inner pipe is
assumed to rotate at a variable speed of 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 rpm and the eccentricity
of the inner pipe is changed from 0.0 to 40 mm from the center of the outer pipe. Verification
and validation for the numerical simulation are presented. The results showed a significant enhance-
ment by 223% in the heat transfer rate due to the eccentricity change up to 40 mm and at the inner
pipe rotation of 500 rpm. However, the pressure penalty through the heat exchanger increase by
53% in the rotational speed of inner pipe up to 500 rpm and eccentricity of 40 mm and it is accepted
penalties.
Ó 2018 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction Furthermore, there is a need for miniaturization of heat

exchangers in specific applications, such as space and vehicle
Techniques for heat transfer augmentation are relevant to sev- applications, through the augmentation of heat transfer rate
eral engineering applications. In recent years, the high cost of [2]. There are few techniques for heat transfer augmentation
energy and material has resulted in an increased effort aimed without significant effects the overall performance of the sys-
to produce more efficient heat exchange equipment [1]. tem [3–5]. There are three types of heat transfer augmentation
techniques, passive, active and combined type [6]. Passive tech-
* Corresponding author at: Behind 23, Ibrahim Attar Street, Zizinia, niques generally use surface or geometrical modifications to
Alexandria, Egypt.
the flow channel by incorporating inserts, additional devices
E-mail address: yeldrainy@alexu.edu.eg (Y.A. Eldrainy). or surface treatment which promote higher heat transfer coef-
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria ficients by disturbing the existing flow behavior and they do
University. not require any external power input. Active techniques are
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
1110-0168 Ó 2018 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
2 M.A.M. Ali et al.
Nomenclature
AC annulus flow cross section area
pðDout 2 Din 2 Þ
AC ¼ 4 r
As heat transfer area (m2), AS ¼ p Din L
Cp fluid specific heat (J/kgK)
CFD computational fluid dynamics
Dh hydraulic diameter (m)
F force (N)
f Darcy friction factor
g gravity (m/s2)
h heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
K fluid thermal conductivity (W/m K)
L pipe length (m)
mc cold fluid mass flow rate (kg/s)
Pr Prandtl number (dimensionless quantity)
more complex than passive techniques because they require
some external power input to cause the desired flow modifica-
tion and improvement in the rate of heat transfer such rotating
bodies, electric field, and acoustic or surface vibration [7]. A
compound augmentation technique is the one where more than
one of the above-mentioned techniques is used in combination
with the purpose of further improving the thermo-hydraulic
performance of a heat exchanger [8]. The majority of commer-
cially interesting enhancement techniques are currently limited
to passive techniques because of their low cost and easy han-
dling. The lack of use of the active techniques is related to
the cost, noise, safety, or reliability concerns associated with
the enhancement device [4].
Murata and Iwamoto [9] investigated numerically the effect
of inner-wall rotation on heat transfer in cylindrical flow-
passages and they found that rotation enhances the heat trans-
fer rate. Yazıcı et al. [10] studied experimentally the paraffin
melting behavior through a horizontal double tube heat
exchanger for both the concentric and eccentric of the inner
tube. They changed the eccentricity of the inner pipe from
the center of the outer one three times and compared the
results with the concentric geometry. At the maximum eccen-
tricity, the total melting time reduced compared to the concen-
tric one. Abou-Ziyan et al. [11] studied experimentally the
effect of fins and rotating of concentric inner pipe of double
pipe heat exchanger on heat transfer and pressure drop. They
made a compression between the results of inner plain and
finned pipe under stationary and rotating conditions. He inves-
tigated that the maximum rotating speed enhanced the Nusselt
number and also improved the ratio of heat exchange to
pumping power. El-Maghlany et al. [12] studied experimen-
tally the performance of counter-flow in horizontal double
tube heat exchanger after adding Cu-nanoparticles to the
water in the annulus of the heat exchanger. They rotated the
inner tube at variable speeds while the outer pipe was station-
ary. Their results showed that rotation enhancement the rate
of heat transfer as a result; the heat exchanger effectiveness
and the transfer number units (NTU) improved and increase
the pressure drop. Nobari and Nekoubin [13] studied the effect
of inward and outward eccentricity on incompressible fluid
flow in a curved annulus heat exchanger. Their results showed
Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
(m2), P wetted perimeter (m)
Q rate of heat transfer (W)
radius or radial distance
Tmean the mean temperature (°C)
Ts inner pipe surface temperature (°C)
Tout cold fluid outlet temperature (°C)
Tin cold fluid inlet temperature (°C)
DP pressure drop (m)
VA fluid axial velocity (m/s)
t velocity
z axial distance
m fluid dynamic viscosity (Pas)
q fluid density (kg/m3)
h angle in cylindrical coordinate system
that the outward eccentricity caused a deformation in the sec-
ondary flows and axial velocity profiles. Otherwise, the friction
factor reduced as the eccentricity increases due to the sec-
ondary flow intensity decreased. Dhaidan et al. [14] investi-
gated experimentally and numerically melting of nano-
enhanced phase change materials in an annular area between
two circular cylinders. They exhibited a constant heat flux to
the inner cylindrical tube, on the other hand, they insulated
the outer shell thermally. They studied the impact of eccentric-
ity by lowering the center of the inside heated tube and they
found that the higher melting rate and temperatures are at
the upper part of the capsule due to natural convection. They
also found that the melting rate can be increased by using an
eccentric shell by lowering the center of an internal cylinder
or by increasing the tube area. Wu et al. [15] studied the effect
of porous media on the natural convection for the temperature
dependent viscosity of fluids inside annulus between two verti-
cally eccentric spherical. Their results showed that maximum
value of Nusselt number increase with an increase in Prandtl
number for both positive and negative eccentricity and that
have a better effect of convection heat transfer compared to
the concentric case. From the previous studies, it is found that
there were rare researches on a combination of eccentricity and
rotation. Therefore, the scope of the present study is concerned
with the enhancement of the double pipe heat exchanger per-
formance through changing the eccentricity of the inner pipe
center as well as the supplementary turbulence due to the inner
tube rotation. To achieve these aims, a numerical model was
constructed in order to investigate the effect of rotational
speed of the inner pipe with different eccentricity ratio on
the heat transfer coefficient.
2. Numerical simulation
In this research, a three-dimensional, steady, incompressible
and turbulent model was created to investigate the effect of
inner pipe rotation on the heat transfer rate at different eccen-
tricity. The physical properties of the fluid within the compu-
tational domain are assumed to be constant without
changing its phase.
Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger 3

Fig. 1 Numerical domain.

 
2.1. Governing equations @vr vh @vr vh 2 @vr
q vr þ  þ vz
@r r @h r @z
 2 
This numerical model was built up using ANSYS Fluent 16.0 @p @ vr 1 @vr vr 1 @ 2 vr 2 @vh @ 2 vr
¼ þl þ  þ  þ ð5Þ
and is based on the following generalized continuity, momen- @r @r2 r @r r2 r2 @h2 r2 @h @z2
tum and energy equations in Cartesian coordinates for fluid
 
flow and heat transfer. The flow was assumed to be in-viscid @vh vh @vh vh vr @vh
q vr þ  þ vz
and incompressible in while the heat transfer was steady for @r r @h r @z
steady-state analysis. The simplified time-independent mass  2 
1 @p @ vh 1 @vh vh 1 @ 2 vh 2 @vr @ 2 vh
equation is given by: ¼ þl þ  þ þ þ
r @h @r2 r @r r2 r2 @h2 r2 @h @z2
@vr vr 1 @vh @vz ð6Þ
þ þ þ ¼0 ð1Þ
@r r r @h @z
 
@vz vh @vz @vz
The simplified non-viscous Navier- stokes momentum q vr þ þ vz
equation is given by: @r r @h @z
 2 
  @p @ vz 1 @vz 1 @ 2 vz @ 2 vz
¼ þl þ þ þ 2 ð7Þ
@vr @vr vh @vr vh 2 @vr @z @r2 r @r r2 @h2 @z
q þ vr þ  þ vz
@t @r r @h r @z
 2  The equation for heat transfer derived from energy conser-
@p @ vr 1 @vr vr 1 @ 2 vr 2 @vh @ 2 vr vation is given by:
¼ þl þ  þ  þ þ Fr
@r @r2 r @r r2 r2 @h2 r2 @h @z2  
@T @T vh @T @T
ð2Þ qCp þ qCp vr þ þ v2
@t @r r @h @z
        
@vh @vh vh @vh vh vr @vh 1@ @T 1 @T @T @ @T
q þ vr þ  þ vz ¼ rk þ 2 k þ k þ egen: ð8Þ
@t @r r @h r @z r @r @r r @h @h @z @z
 2 
1 @p @ vh 1 @vh vh 1 @ 2 vh 2 @vr @ 2 vh Due to there is no internal heat generation due to heat source,
¼ þl þ  þ þ þ þ Fh the term of rate of generation of energy is equal zero. The inner
r @h @r2 r @r r2 r2 @h2 r2 @h @z2
fluid is assumed to be steam in phase change condition and the
ð3Þ
outer surface of the inner pipe was taken to be at constant tem-
  perature and the outer pipe is insulated, that makes the rate of
@vz @vz vh @vz @vz
q þ vr þ þ vz net energy transport due to conduction could be neglected. Thus
@t @r r @h @z the flow assumed to be steady state where there is no variation of
 2 
@p @ vz 1 @vz 1 @ 2 vz @ 2 vz temperature with time, the term of storage energy could be
¼ þl þ þ þ þ Fz ð4Þ
@z @r2 r @r r2 @h2 @z2 neglected. Finally, the only rate of energy transported by con-
vection could be calculated by the following equation:
The flow assumed to be steady state where there is no  
variation with time and there is no body force in any direction @T vh @T @T
vr þ þ v2 ¼0 ð9Þ
so momentum equation will be as following: @r r @h @z

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Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
4 M.A.M. Ali et al.

Fig. 2 Computational Domain, (a) Elevation section, (b) Side view section, (c) Isometric section.

2.2. Physical domain
The physical model consists of a double pipe heat exchanger
with an inner pipe and an outer pipe of diameter 50 mm and
150 mm respectively and its length is 2000 mm. An extension
of 1000 mm was added to the original domain length as illus-
trated in Fig. 1 in order to eliminate the reverse flow which is
resulted from the induced centrifugal force by flow rotation
where a low-pressure zone generated adjacent to the exit
boundary. Changing the eccentricity of the inner pipe causes
concentration of mesh in one zone than other and for uniform
distribution and adequate quality, meshing is recreated. To
granite uniform resolution of mesh throughout the domain dif-
ferent computational domains were created according to the

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Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger 5

Grid dependence verification

302.00

Fluid Temperature Distribution (K)

301.50

301.00

300.50

300.00

299.50

299.00

298.50

298.00
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
Position (mm)
75000 145000 MATH. Results

Fig. 3 Grid dependence verification.

Outlet Temperature
28.75
28.50
28.25
28.00
27.75
To (C)

27.50
27.25
27.00
26.75
26.50
26.25
26.00
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5

Inlet velocity (m/s)

MATH. Caculations ANSYS Reults

Fig. 4 Numerical model (ANSYS) results and mathematical calculation of fluid outlet temperatures comparison.

pipes eccentricity. The eccentricity of the inner pipe center rel- tionary insulated wall. The annular flow is water (Pr = 6.2)
ative to the outer pipe center was taken in this study e = 0, 20, with inlet temperature 25 °C. Copper is selected for inner pipe
30 and 40 mm. material due to its high thermal conductivity.

2.3. Boundary conditions 2.4. Convergence and mesh independence study

The boundary at inlet is velocity inlet where the axial velocity
(vz) is constant while radial velocity (vr) and tangential velocity
(vh) equal zero. The annular flow inlet velocity in the axial
direction is proposed to be 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.35 and 0.5 m/s.
The boundary at the exit is pressure boundary where pressure
is assumed to be atmospheric. The inner wall is taken as rotat-
ing isothermal wall with no slip condition. The inner wall tem-
perature is 90 °C and rotates with a variable speed of 0, 100,
200, 300, 400 and 500 rpm. The outer wall is assumed to be sta-
A structured grid with hexahedral cells which gives consider-
able computational advantages is used at the annulus region
as illustrated in Fig. 2. A two different sizing were selected
which are 75,000 and 145,000 cells. Temperature distribution
along the heat exchanger of these grid systems was compared
together for the purpose of mesh independence as shown in
Fig. 3. It was found that a grid sizing of 145,000 elements is
sufficient to capture all the gradients that occurred in the flow
domain. To insure solution convergence and stability, the cal-

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6 M.A.M. Ali et al.

Fig. 5 Numerical model (ANSYS) results and mathematical calculation of Total heat transfer comparison.

Fig. 6 Numerical model (ANSYS) results and mathematical calculation of Nusselt number comparison.

culation was continued until the normalized residual was
reduced to below 10e3. In addition the velocity and static
temperature along the domain center line were plotted every
500 iterations and the solution was consider converged as the
distribution was nearly constant with iteration progress.
2.5. Numerical model validation
To check that the numerical model meets specifications and
fulfills its intended purpose of the double pipe heat exchanger,
mathematical equations were used to calculate outlet tempera-
ture of the cold fluid, heat transfer rate, Nusselt number and
pressure drop for the cases of concentric pipe with variable
axial velocity (classic heat transfer problem). The Reynolds
number (Re) is calculated and used to characterize different
flow regimes of the same fluid, such as laminar or turbulent
flow. For laminar flow, Nusselt number approach to one and
that refers to similar values of convection and conduction.
For turbulent flow, convection is larger than conduction heat
transfer leading to larger Nusselt number up to 1000.
q V Dh
Re ¼ ð10Þ
l
where the hydraulic diameter (Dh) is calculated as four times
the flow area divided by the wetted perimeter of the pipe.
Ac
Dh ¼ 4 ð11Þ
P
Thus the hydraulic diameter for annulus flow calculated by:

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Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger 7

Fig. 7 Numerical model (ANSYS) results and mathematical calculation of Fluid pressure drop comparison.

E = 0.0 mm
6.50

5.50
Nu/ Nu ( N=0.0 rpm)

4.50

3.50

2.50

1.50

0.50
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
RE

N=0 N=100 N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500

Fig. 8 Rotation speed effect on Nusselt number ratio of centric pipe.

Dh ¼ Dout  Din ð12Þ The pressure drop penalty according to friction between the
annular fluid and both inner and outer pipes due to fluid vis-
In the heat exchanger, the loss of heat transfer rate from the cosity is calculated by the following:
hot surface is equal to the gain of heat transfer rate to the cold
fluid. f L
DP ¼ V2 ð15Þ
2 g Dh
Q ¼ AS h Tmean ¼ mc cpðTout  Tin Þ ð13Þ
The results of analytical equations were used to validate the
where Tmean ¼ TS  Tout2þTin numerical model results. Mathematical calculations and
Nusselt number (Nu) which is the ratio of convective to numerical results of outlet temperature, total heat transfer
conductive heat transfer across (normal to) the boundary cal- and Nusselt number are shown in Figs. 4–6 while the results
culated by the following equation. of pressure drop caused by fluid friction through the pipe are
shown in Fig. 7. It is clear from these Figures that there is a
h L good agreement between the numerical and Mathematical
Nu ¼ ð14Þ calculations.
K

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8 M.A.M. Ali et al.

Fig. 9 Stream lines colored by velocity magnitude of centric pipe at different rotation speeds.

E = 0.0 mm
49
47
45
43
41
39
T out (C°)

37
35
33
31
29
27
25
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
Re
N=0 N=100 N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500

Fig. 10 Rotation speed effect on outlet temperature of centric pipe.

Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger 9

Fig. 11 Temperature contour of centric pipe at different rotation speeds.

N= 500 rpm
1.6

1.5

1.4
Nu / Nu (E=00 mm)

1.3

1.2

1.1

0.9

0.8
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
Re
E=0.0 E=20 E=30 E=40

Fig. 12 Eccentricity effect on Nusselt number ratio of rotating inner pipe at 500 rpm.

Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
10 M.A.M. Ali et al.

Fig. 13 Stream lines colored by velocity magnitude at different eccentricity of rotating inner pipe at 500 rpm.

N=500 rpm
60

55

50

45
T out (C°)

40

35

30

25
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
Re
E=0.0 E=20 E=30 E=40

Fig. 14 Eccentricity effect on outlet temperature of rotating inner pipe at 500 rpm.

Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger 11

Fig. 15 Temperature contour of rotating inner pipe at different eccentricity.

E = 0.0 mm
3.00

2.50
dP/dP( N=0.0 rpm)

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.50
0.00 10000.00 20000.00 30000.00 40000.00 50000.00 60000.00
Re
N=0 N=100 N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500

Fig. 16 Rotation speed effect on pressure drop ratio of centric pipe.

Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
12 M.A.M. Ali et al.

Fig. 17 Pressure contour of centric pipe at different rotation speeds.

N= 500 rpm
1.5

1.4
dP / dP ( E=0.0 mm)

1.3

1.2

1.1

0.9
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
Re
E=0.0 E=20 E=30 E=40

Fig.18 Eccentricity effect on pressure drop ratio of rotating inner pipe at 500 rpm.

Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger 13

Fig. 19 Pressure contour of rotating inner pipe at different eccentricity.

E = 20 mm
6.50

5.50
Nu / Nu ( N=0.0 rpm)

4.50

3.50

2.50

1.50

0.50
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
Re
N=0 N=100 N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500

Fig. 20 Rotation speed effect on Nusselt number ratio at eccentricity of 20 mm.

Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
14 M.A.M. Ali et al.

E = 30 mm
7.50

6.50

5.50
Nu / Nu ( N=0.0 rpm)
4.50

3.50

2.50

1.50

0.50
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000
Re
N=0 N=100 N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500

Fig. 21 Rotation speed effect on Nusselt number ratio at eccentricity of 30 mm.

E = 40 mm
8.50

7.50

6.50
Nu / Nu ( N=0.0 rpm)

5.50

4.50

3.50

2.50

1.50

0.50
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000

Re
N=0 N=100 N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500

Fig. 22 Rotation speed effect on Nusselt number ratio at eccentricity of 40 mm.

3. Results and discussion
The main indicator of heat exchanger performance enhance-
ment is Nusselt number. The higher the fluid Nusselt number
is reached, the higher performance of the heat exchanger is
gained. The strongest parameter influence on convection heat
transfer is a fluid rotational speed which increases the turbu-
lence of the annular fluid and as a result of that the heat trans-
fer increase. Rotation of inner pipe has a positive effect on
Nusselt number as shown in Fig. 8. As rotational speed
increased by 300%, Nusselt number increased by 182% while
increasing the inlet velocity by the same rate, Nusselt number
increased by 70%. It was also observed that the heat transfer
rate is also affected by rotational speed more than Reynolds
number. Fig. 9 shows stream line colored by velocity magni-
tude at same inlet velocity with a different rotation speed of
concentric inner pipe. As the rotation increases the magnitude
velocity increases that mean more turbulence which improves
the heat transfer. Increasing rotation speed of inner pipe
enhance the heat transfer and it is observed in increasing the
outlet temperature of centric pipe as shown in Fig. 10.
Fig. 11 shows the Temperature contour of concentric pipe at

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Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger 15

E = 20 mm

2.10

1.90
dP/dP ( N=0.0 rpm)
1.70

1.50

1.30

1.10

0.90
0.00 10000.00 20000.00 30000.00 40000.00 50000.00 60000.00
Re
N=0 N=100 N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500

Fig. 23 Rotation speed effect on Pressure drop ratio at eccentricity of 20 mm.

E = 30 mm
4.00

3.50

3.00
dP/dP ( N=0.0 rpm)

2.50

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.50
0.00 10000.00 20000.00 30000.00 40000.00 50000.00 60000.00
Re
N=0 N=100 N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500

Fig. 24 Rotation speed effect on Pressure drop ratio at eccentricity of 30 mm.

different rotation speed to illustrate the temperature distribu-
tion along the pipe and effect of rotation on flow temperature.
On the other hand, changing eccentricity of the inner pipe has
an effect on Nusselt number comparing with concentric one as
it is illustrated in Fig. 12. The eccentricity of 40 mm repre-
sented the most case of augmentation in Nusselt number and
the stream lines of inner pipe rotational speed of 500 at differ-
ent eccentricity that is represented in Fig. 13 showed that
increasing of eccentricity leads to growing in the velocity mag-
nitude where the upper gab work as a nozzle that increase the
velocity and turbulence leading to improve Nusselt number.
As it is shown the eccentricity of 40 mm generated two vortices
that means more turbulence and improving in the heat trans-
fer. The generated vortex in the large gap assists to mix the
hot fluid near the hot inner pipe with the cold one near the
outer pipe at the large gap and ensuring that no dead zones
in this large gap are established. ‫ﺃ‬eat transfer improvement
by changing Eccentricity while rotating the inner pipe leads
to growth in outlet temperature as shown in Fig. 14. Temper-
ature contour in Fig. 15 illusterats the effect of changing eccen-
tricity on temperture magnitude. The pressure drop penalty
across the heat exchanger has been negatively affected by fluid
Reynolds number and rotation of the inner pipe. As expected,
as the Reynolds number and rotational speed increase, pres-

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16
3.60
3.20
2.80
dP/dP ( N=0.0 rpm)
2.40
2.00
1.60
1.20
0.80
0.00 10000.00
N=0 N=100
Fig. 25 Rotation speed effect on Pressure drop ratio at eccentricity of 40 mm.
sure drop increases sequentially. Effect of inner pipe rotation
speed on pressure drop is remarkable at low Reynolds number
compared to high Reynolds number as illustrated in Fig. 16
and a pressure contour presented in Fig. 17 shows the growth
in inlet pressure to overcome the friction loss across the heat
exchanger as a result of increasing rotation speed. This is
due to the increase in the viscous force at both the inner and
outer pipes surface. Changing eccentricity of rotating inner
pipe impact on pressure drop as shown in Fig. 18 and it is clear
that eccentricity of 30 and 40 mm increase pressure drop than
the eccentricity of 20 mm because the reduction in the gap
width in one direction which increases exclusively the shear
force. Vortexes generated in high eccentricity multiply friction
loss as shown in Fig. 19 and as a result higher inlet pressure is
needed to overcome losses.
Rotation speed effects on Nusselt number ratio at different
eccentricities are shown in Figs. 20–22 where increasing rota-
tion speed or eccentricity improve heat transfer and that
appear in increasing Nusselt number, while they increase Pres-
sure drop as shown in Figs. 23–25. The results concluded that
the maximum heat transfer was achieved at a rotational speed
of 500 rpm and an eccentricity of 40 mm.
4. Conclusion
In the current investigation, a numerical study was carried out
to study the performance of double-tube heat exchanger. The
heat exchanger performance was studied with the effect of
the inner tube rotation, eccentricity ratio, and Reynolds num-
ber. The following conclusions have been obtained.
 Rotation of inner pipe of the double pipe heat exchanger
enhances the heat transfer rate and the performance of
the heat exchanger especially at low Reynolds number.
 Nusselt number is affected by rotation where it increased by
491% at low velocity and by 120% at high velocity com-
pared to the stationary condition. As a result, the outlet
temperature increased also.
Please cite this article in press as: M.A.M. Ali et al., Heat transfer enhancement of double pipe heat exchanger using rotating of variable eccentricity inner pipe,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.03.003
M.A.M. Ali et al.
E = 40 mm
20000.00 30000.00 40000.00 50000.00 60000.00
Re
N=200 N=300 N=400 N=500
 Increasing eccentricity beside rotation slightly improve the
performance of the heat exchanger for both high and low
Reynolds number where Nusselt number increased by
42% at low velocity and by 47% at high velocity.
 The effect of rotation on pressure drop obvious in low Rey-
nolds number more than high Reynolds number. Pressure
drop raised by 178% at low Reynolds number while it
increased by 12% only at high Reynolds number compared
to the stationary condition.
 Pressure drop is affected by increasing rotation more than
increasing eccentricity.
 The results showed a significant enhancement by 223% in
the heat transfer rate due to the eccentricity change up to
40 mm and at the inner pipe rotation of 500 rpm. However,
the pressure penalty through the heat exchanger increase by
53% in the rotational speed of inner pipe up to 500 rpm and
eccentricity of 40 mm and it is accepted penalties.
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