Performance intensification analysis of laminar flow through heat exchanger tube with drumet-cut twisted tape inserts

This paper presents a numerical analysis of thermal performance intensification of fluid flow through a circular tube with drumet-cut twisted tape (DCTT) inserts using CFD software ANSYS FLUENT. Investigation of thermal performance and laminar flow characteristics was carried out for water flow with depth of cut (4 mm ≤ b ≤ 13 mm) and width of cut (11 mm ≤ c ≤ 17 mm) over Reynolds number (100 ≤ Re ≤ 1500). The accuracy of the present study is being validated with predefined correlations as well as numerical data present in the literature. The tube with DCTT inserts shows improved thermal performance than the plain tube. The presence of DCTT geometry induces additional vortex fluid flow and flow stream through the cuts, resulting in improved mixing of fluid and therefore intensifying the heat transfer. The optimum thermal performance of 3.22 is obtained at Re = 1500 with c = 17 mm. The result also reveals that the larger value of avg. Nusselt number obtained for drumet-cut twisted tape is approximately 6.29 times more than the plain tube at a Reynolds number of 1500. A correlation is also established to correspond with numerical data of the thermal performance of tube with DCTT inserts.