An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Flow Obstacles on Single-Phase Heat Transfer

Abstract

The paper presents and discusses the experimental results obtained for various geometries and flow parameters (such as the obstruction ratio, obstacle shape, Re number) that may impact the single phase heat transfer in tubes equipped with flow obstacles. A review of previous work and current experimental data suggest that the main enhancement mechanisms are disruption of viscous boundary layer, enhancement of turbulent mixing and fin effect. The enhancement effects were observed up to 50 diameters downstream of a flow obstacle. Comparisons of the measured heat transfer enhancement with existing and a newly proposed prediction methods are presented.