Experimental and Numerical Heat Transfer Analysis of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger by Using Helical Finned Tubes

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Prince Muhammad Bin Fahd University, 31952 Al-Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

10.1088/1757-899X/973/1/amme.2025.449051

Abstract

This paper primarily aims to improve the heat transfer coefficient of the shell and tube heat exchanger by incorporating the helical finned tubes. Both experimental analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out to evaluate the thermal efficiency of heat exchangers with regular tubes and helical finned tubes. The findings have shown that helical finned tubes enhance thermal efficiency by amplifying the surface area for heat exchange, encouraging fluid turbulence, and improving the temperature gradients between the fluids. Experimental data is validated with the CFD model and confirmed that higher outlet temperatures for the cold fluid side and lower outlet temperatures for the hot fluid side in the helical finned tube configuration, prove its superior heat transfer capability. The mean absolute error (MAE) between the experimental and CFD results was minimal, confirming the reliability of the CFD models. Additionally, a system efficiency comparison has shown that the helical finned tube exchanger achieved greater efficiency than the regular tube exchanger, emphasizing the practical benefits of using helical finned tubes in industrial applications where enhanced heat transfer is important.

Keywords

The International Conference on Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering
Volume 22, Issue 22
22nd International Conference on Applied Mechanics & Mechanical Engineering, AMME-22
2025
Pages 1-13

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