Study on the heat-transfer characteristics and pressure drop in channels with arc-shaped wavy plates

Abstract

The heat-transfer characteristics and pressure drop in a channel with arc-shaped wavy plates are presented. The test channel with two opposite wavy plates, whose peaks are in-phase or out-of-phase, are tested under constant wall heat flux conditions. The experiments are made for the Reynolds number and heat flux in the ranges 1500-2500 and 0.5-1.2 kW/m2, respectively. The effects of relevant parameters on the heat-transfer characteristics are considered. A turbulent mathematical model is employed to simulate the temperature and velocity distributions. The predicted results are verified by comparing with measured data, and reasonable agreement is obtained. Due to the onset and growth of the recirculation zones, the convective heat transfer in the channel with wavy plates is higher than that with flat plates. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.