The purpose of this chapter is to describe the basic physical features and the analysis of the thermal-hydraulic performance of the louver fins. The terminology which is used widely in the field of compact heat exchanger with louvered fin is described. The flow phenomenon affected by the operating conditions and the geometric parameters of the louvered fin is examined using the flow visualization techniques found in the literature. A methodology is given to calculate the heat transfer and the friction factor. Stanton number, Colburn j-factor and friction factor are defined as a performance criteria and the variations of these criteria with respect to the Reynolds number and the geometric parameters of the louvered fin. The combinations of these dimensionless number such as area goodness factor (j/f), volume goodness factor (j/f1/3) and JF number related with the volume goodness factor are discussed in terms of overall performance criteria. Finally, the correlations of the louvered fin heat exchanger and their tabulated data was summarized.
Part of the book: Heat Exchangers
This chapter is aimed to address the performance of compact heat exchangers with offset strip fin, which have been studied by the researchers in detail for decades. The history and basic features of offset strip fins (OSF) are described first to introduce the fin geometry. Then, the effect of the fin geometry on the performance of the offset strip fin is given from experimental and numerical aspects, respectively. Flow streams evolution under varying offset strip geometries is summarized in order to demonstrate the physical impact on the flow. The thermohydraulic features of the flow in the offset strip fin are investigated by considering the Colburn j‐factor and friction (f) factors in diverse flow regimes. Furthermore the criteria, flow area goodness factor j/f, the ratio j/f1/3 and thermohydraulic performance factor JF, derived from the mentioned dimensionless factors, are also used as a scale of the performance of the structure and reported in the chapter.
Part of the book: Heat Exchangers