Title: Heat transfer enhancement of turbulent flow in a channel with diamond shaped baffles

Authors: Rachid Saim; Hamidou Benzenine; Hakan F. Oztop; Khaled Al-Salem

Addresses: Energetic and Applied Thermal Laboratory (ETAP), Technology Faculty, Abou Bakr Belkaid University, BP 230 - 13000-Tlemcen, Algeria ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University Sciences and Technology (USTO), BP 1505, El M'naouar Oran, Algeria ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technology Faculty, Firat University, 23119 Elazig, Turkey ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: A numerical study was conducted on turbulent flow in a rectangular duct with diamond shaped baffles placed on the top and bottom walls. The governing equations, based on the low Reynolds number k-ε model, are solved to describe the thermohydraulic behaviour of the fluid using the finite volume method. Velocity profiles and drag coefficient were obtained and presented for selected locations along the duct, namely, upstream, downstream and between the two diamond shaped baffles. The results were compared with available experimental and numerical data from literature. The highest value of the normalised Nusselt number was attained when the baffles were tilted five degrees from the vertical.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics; CFD; shaped baffles; channels; turbulent flow; numerical solutions; heat transfer enhancement; turbulent flow; diamond shapes; rectangular ducts; thermohydraulics; finite volume method; velocity profiles; drag coefficient.

DOI: 10.1504/PCFD.2013.057097

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal, 2013 Vol.13 No.6, pp.397 - 406

Published online: 29 Apr 2014 *

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