Experimental and numerical investigation on the effect of dimple on heat exchanger performance and louver effectiveness in multilouvered fin banks

Numerical and experimental models have been developed to investigate the effect of implementing in-line and staggered arrangement of dimple on heat transfer augmentation and pressure drop of the air flow through a multilouvered fin bank. Three-dimensional simulations of single row of louvers have been conducted for the aforementioned geometry. Simulations are performed for different Reynolds number. The simulation revealed that heat transfer and temperature augmentations occur due to existence of a circulation region created by dimple. Additionally, continuous temperature gradients have been observed over the louver surface with the highest temperature at the base of the louver and the lowest temperature at the middle of the louver. Besides, the difference between these two points is more obvious in higher Reynolds numbers, especially in the first louvers. Fin efficiency and fin effectiveness have been calculated to assess the louver performance. The air-side performance of heat exchanger is evaluated by calculating Colburn j factor and Fanning friction f factor. Results show that implementing dimples on the louver surface increase j factor and f factor. The present results indicated the staggered arrangement, in comparison with in-line arrangement, could effectively enhance the heat transfer performance. The results show that both fin bank performance and louver effectiveness will be increased against an acceptable increase in pressure drop.