Heat Transfer Enhancement of

Laminar Flow Through a Circular

Sujoy Kumar Saha
e-mail: sujoy_k_saha@hotmail.com
Bikash Kumar Barman
Soumitra Banerjee
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Bengal Engineering and Science University,
Shibpur, Howrah 711 103, West Bengal, India
Tube Having Wire Coil Inserts
and Fitted With Center-Cleared
Twisted Tape
The experimental friction factor and Nusselt number data for laminar flow through a cir-
cular duct having wire coil inserts and fitted with center-cleared twisted tape have been
presented. Predictive friction factor and Nusselt number correlations have also been pre-
sented. The thermohydraulic performance has been evaluated. The major findings of this
experimental investigation are the center-cleared twisted tapes in combination with wire
coil inserts perform better than the individual enhancement technique acting alone for
laminar flow through a circular duct up to a certain amount of center-clearance.
[DOI: 10.1115/1.4006289]

Keywords: laminar flow, forced convection, wire coil inserts, twisted tapes, heat transfer
enhancement, swirl flow

1 Introduction
Laminar flow is encountered in many industrial applications. In
case of laminar flow, there is a major thermal resistance in the
bulk flow in addition to the dominant thermal resistance in the
thin boundary layer adjacent to the flow. Wire coil inserts are,
therefore, used to mix the gross flow effectively in laminar flow to
reduce the thermal resistance in the core flow through the channel.
A wire coil insert as shown in Fig. 1 is made by tightly wrapping
a coil of spring wire on a rod. When the coil spring is pulled
through the tube, the wires form a helical roughness. The dimen-
sionless geometric parameters that influence the heat transfer
and friction characteristics are the coil helix angle and coil wire
diameter.
Two measurements of the local heat transfer coefficient down-
stream from a wall attached wire have been reported. Edwards
and Sheriff [1] used a boundary layer over a flat plate. Emerson
[2] worked with pipe flow. They [2] have observed that the coil
wire diameter for maximum heat transfer enhancement is directly
correlated with the viscosity-dominated boundary layer thickness.
Larger wire diameters protrude into the turbulence-dominated
boundary layer without additional thermal benefit. On the con-
trary, the larger wires give significantly higher pressure drop due
to profile drag. Uttawar and Raja Rao [3] carried out experiments
with seven different wire coil insert geometries in laminar flow
(30 < Re < 675) for heating of an oil (300 < Pr < 675). The range
of insert geometries was 0.08 < d/Dh < 0.13 and 32 deg < a < 61
deg. The flow was not fully developed since the heated tube length
was only 60 diameters. They observed 50300% heat transfer
enhancement. The friction increases were considerably less than
the Nusselt number increase. The heat transfer data were corre-
lated by
 0:14
lb
Nu 1:65 tan a Rem Pr0:35 (1)
lw
Manuscript received September 13, 2011; final manuscript received February 8,
2012; published online July 12, 2012. Assoc. Editor: Jovica R. Riznic.
where
m 0:25tan a0:38 (2)
The Nu, f, and Re were based on hydraulic diameter.
They did not develop the friction factor correlation. Friction
factor was only 58% higher than the smooth tube value for
Re < 180. Chen and Zhang [4] experimented with seven wire coil
insert geometries for laminar flow (273 < Re < 245) of oil
(194 < Pr < 464) under heating condition. The range of insert geo-
metries was 0.056 < d/Dh < 0.133 and 3.75 < P/d < 24. The
heated tube length was 100 diameters. They proposed following
correlations based on their own data:
 0:186  0:408
Nu 1:258Re0:566 Pr0:169 P=Dh P= (3)
d
 0:848  1:428
f 95:049Re0:129 Pr0:230 P=Dh P= (4)
d
Twisted tapes as shown in Fig. 2 cause the flow to spiral along the
tube length. Continuous twisted tape shown in Fig. 2(a) has been
extensively investigated. Variants of twisted tape that have been
evaluated include short sections of twisted tapes at the tube inlet,
or periodically spaced along the tube length. Early works on
twisted tapes have been reported in Refs. [5,6]. Later works have
been reported in Refs. [727]. Figure 2(b) shows the layout of a
circular duct having full-length center-cleared twisted tape. The
details and method of making center-cleared twisted tape will be
described in Sec. 2.
Saha and Dutta [7] have observed that, for regularly spaced
twisted tape elements, thermohydraulic performance of twisted
tapes with multiple twists in the tape module is not much different
from that with single twist in the tape module. Twisted tapes with
gradually decreasing pitch perform worse than their uniform-pitch
counterparts. Patil [8] have worked with varying width twisted-
tape inserts for which both friction factor and Nusselt number are
lower than those with full-width twisted tapes. Saha et al. [9,10]
have introduced regularly spaced twisted-tape elements which are

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Fig. 1 Circular duct having wire coil insert
better than full-length twisted tapes under certain circumstances.
Li et al. [11] have designed an optimal multilayer spacer with
optimal nonwoven nets in the outer layers and twisted tapes in the
middle layer. Helical screw-tape inserts [12] behave the same way
as the twisted tapes. Twin and triple twisted tapes [13] are also
effective enhancement devices. Dewan et al. [14] have reviewed
the studies on twisted tapes. Hong et al. [15] have employed
evenly spaced twisted tapes in a convergent-divergent tube.
Jagged twisted tapes perform better than the classical twisted
tapes [16].
Sarac et al. [17] have observed better performance with vortex
generators having propeller-type geometry. Jaishankar et al. [18]
have observed better performance of twisted tapes with spacer at
the trailing edge. Chang et al. [19] experienced enhanced heat
transfer in case of shaker-bored piston cooling channel with the
twisted-tape insert. Two corotating helical vortices superimposed
over the main swirling flow exist in twisted tape-generated swirl
flow, Cazan and Aidun [20]. The close proximity of the two coro-
tating vortices creates a local reversing flow at the pipe centerline.
Helical vortices are generated by vortices originating inside the
twisted tape swirler. The main rotational flow accelerates the
corotating vortices and decelerates the counter-rotating vortices.
As a result, the counter-rotating vortices disappear, while the
corotating vortices reach the same maximum tangential velocity
as the main flow. Thus, the tangential velocity near the wall is
Fig. 2 (a) Layout of a circular duct containing a full-length twisted tape (full width and
no center-clearance). (b) Circular duct having full-length twisted tape (with center-
clearance).
031003-2 / Vol. 4, SEPTEMBER 2012
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approximately doubled by the presence of the secondary vortices.
Ramakrishna et al. [21] have recently worked with the twisted
tape having spaces in between. Hans et al. [22] have made a
review of various roughness element geometries employed in
solar air heaters for performance enhancement.
Saha and co-workers [2327] have studied experimentally lam-
inar flow through square and rectangular ducts having twisted
tapes with oblique teeth, axial corrugations, transverse ribs, and
wire coil inserts.
It has been observed from the literature review that the com-
bined effect of the wire coil inserts and the center-cleared twisted
tape inserts has not been studied in the past. The helical fluid flow
due to wire coil inserts coupled with center-cleared twisted tape-
generated swirl flow is likely to give larger swirl intensity and
vortex in the flow. Also, there may be enhanced fluid mixing with
increased heat and momentum diffusion. This may increase heat
transfer even if it may also give increased pressure drop. In this
paper, therefore, the laminar flow experimental heat transfer and
pressure drop results of combined effect of wire coil inserts and
full-length center-cleared twisted-tape inserts in circular ducts are
presented. Friction factor and Nusselt number correlations are
presented. Also, the performance of this combined geometry is
evaluated.
2 Experimental Setup, Operating Procedure, and
Data Reduction
The pressure drop measurements were taken in a 13 mm inter-
nal diameter and 2 m long circular acrylic duct in which the wire
coil inserts made of galvanized iron wires were pushed inside.
Heat transfer tests were carried out in a stainless steel (SS) duct
having same dimension as that of pressure drop tests. Figure 3
shows the self-explanatory experimental rig. Heat transfer test
section was electrically heated by nichrome heater wire giving
uniform wall heat flux boundary condition. Nichrome heater wire
was having porcelain-bead insulation on it. There was no direct
contact of the Nichrome heater wire with the duct wall. First, there
was fiber glass tape insulation (electrical but not thermal) on the
duct wall. Then, the porcelain-bead covered Nichrome heater wire
Transactions of the ASME
 Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the experimental rig
was wrapped on the duct wall. Two consecutive turns of the heater
wire touched each other in each duct. The thermal conductivity of
the duct wall material was high enough and the duct wall thickness
was sufficient to ensure uniform wall heat flux. Asbestos rope and
glasswool insulated the heat transfer test section after the heater
wire. Finally, the test section was covered with jute bag for further
thermal insulation. Twisted tapes (twist ratio, y 2.5) were made
of stainless steel. Wire coil inserts of two different coil helix angles
and two different wire diameters were used. A central rectangular
cut was made from a flat stainless steel strip, and then it was given
the helical shape of a typical twisted tape by periodic heating and
twisting of the strip on a lathe. The strip was held between the
chuck and tailstock of the lathe. Servotherm medium oil of Indian
Oil Corporation was used as the working fluid. Wide Prandtl num-
ber range (233537) was achieved by using this oil. Twisted tapes
were placed at the center of the duct cross section by SS lugs.
Figures 4 and 5 show test setup and test section details. Oil
mass flow rate was measured by rotameters. There were three
rotameters to cover varying mass flow rates. Isothermal pressure
drops were measured by vertical mercury manometer. The local
enhancement due to wire coil quickly dissipates due to boundary
layer mixing dissipation downstream of the wire. Hence, rational
selection of the wire diameter and spacing requires knowledge of
the local heat transfer coefficient. Therefore, heat transfer test sec-
tion outer wall temperatures were measured at seven axial loca-
tions (each axial station had four thermocouples 90 deg apart
along the duct periphery) by copper-constantan thermocouples
and digital multimeter. Typically, there was only 46% of maxi-
mum wall temperature variation in peripheral outside wall tem-
perature measured at four locations in an axial station. Similar
results have been observed for all cases irrespective of Reynolds
number and Prandtl number. The peripheral wall temperature
variation is due to buoyancy, effects of coil helix, and tape-
induced swirl. However, the effects are not very strong.
Fig. 4 Pressure drop experimental setup
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Fig. 5 Heat transfer experimental setup
Thermocouples were installed on the duct outside wall by braz-
ing. Axial locations of thermocouples were 5 cm, 50 cm, 1.00 m,
1.25 m, 1.5 m, 1.75 m, and 1.95 m along the downstream direction
from the onset of heating at the upstream end of the duct. Duct
inside wall temperatures were evaluated by calculating duct wall
temperature drop from the one-dimensional radial heat conduction
equation.
Oil bulk-mean temperatures at inlet and outlet of the test sec-
tion were also measured by copper-constantan thermocouples.
The oil temperature at outlet was measured after the mixing cham-
ber (item 10, Fig. 3) and this was uniform. The mixing chamber
was a cylindrical box of rectangular cross section. The mixing
chamber had rectangular plates arranged inside in such a fashion
that the working fluid moved in a serpentine path. This gave a uni-
form temperature of the working fluid at its exit plane. At other
locations, the fluid bulk-mean temperatures were interpolated
since the fluid bulk-mean temperature increases linearly for the
uniform wall heat flux boundary condition. The duct wall temper-
ature also rises linearly in the downstream fully developed region.
Heat input to the test section was evaluated by measuring resist-
ance of and voltage across the heater wires and the enthalpy rise
of oil in its passage through the test duct. Peripherally local
temperatures in an axial station were arithmetically averaged to
get axially local temperature and Nusselt number. Then, axially
local Nusselt numbers were averaged by trapezoidal rule. The
electrical energy input and the enthalpy rise of the oil matched
within 3.5%. The enthalpy rise of the oil was taken as the thermal
energy input to the heat transfer test section. Fanning friction
factor was evaluated. Experimental uncertainty (details are
shown in Appendix) was determined by the method of Kline and
McClintock [28]. The uncertainty in Reynolds number, Prandtl
number, friction factor, and Nusselt number were 65%, 65%,
66%, and 68%, respectively. The fluid temperature rise along
the heated duct is not very high and fluid thermal properties being
well documented, therefore, the uncertainties in fluid properties
variation have been neglected without much loss in accuracy.
During the heat transfer test, the fluid at the heat transfer test sec-
tion inlet was at the room temperature. The difference in duct wall
temperature and the fluid mean bulk temperature was not very
high and it was a low heat flux experiment. Also, since the fluid
temperature rise along the heated duct was not very high, the fluid
viscosity correction due to difference in viscosity at duct wall
temperature and at fluid mean bulk temperature can be neglected,
and the isothermal pressure drop data can very well be used
for thermohydraulic performance evaluation of the enhancement
geometry.
SEPTEMBER 2012, Vol. 4 / 031003-3

Fig. 6 Effect of center-clearance of twisted tape on friction fac-
torcoil helix angle 5 60 deg, d/Dh 5 0.07692
Fig. 7 Effect of coil helix angle on friction factor; c 5 0.4, d/
Dh 5 0.1026
3 Results and Discussion
Swirl parameter, Sw, Manglik and Bergles [29], and other
related parameters have been clearly defined in the Nomenclature.
Sw takes care of the swirl generated by the tape twist. Figures
613 show the friction factor and Nusselt number data, respec-
tively. Data have been generated for the following values of the
parameters:
1. center-clearance (c) 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6
2. wire coil helix angle (h) 30 deg, 60 deg
3. coil wire diameter (d/Dh) 0.07692, 0.1026
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Fig. 8 Effect of coil wire diameter on friction factorcoil helix
angle 5 30 deg, c 5 0.6
Fig. 9 Comparison of present experimental friction factor data
with the experimental friction factor data, Eq. (4) of Ref. [4]
Both friction factor and Nusselt number decrease (Figs. 6 and
10, respectively) with increase in the value of c, i.e., center-
clearance initially; however, after c 0.4 and with further
increase of c, no appreciable changes in friction factor and Nusselt
number occur. In fact, for c 0.6, the Nusselt number signifi-
cantly decreases, although pressure drop does not decrease appre-
ciably. This defies Reynolds analogy. Therefore, c > 0.4 is
definitely not good from the thermohydraulic performance point
of view. This is due to the decrease in the tape-surface area in the
initial stages of c  0; whereas, at the later stages with the appreci-
able center-clearance, the boundary layer shape and thickness do
not change appreciably and the velocity and temperature profiles
do not become further shallower. Also, if we critically observe
Figs. 69 and also Ref. [6], it is seen that the friction factor
increases 1525% with combined use of wire coil inserts and
Transactions of the ASME

Fig. 10 Effect of center-clearance of twisted tape on Nuselt
numbercoil helix angle 5 60 deg, d/Dh 5 0.1026
Fig. 11 Effect of coil helix angle on Nusselt number; c 5 0.4,
d/Dh 5 0.07692
twisted tape as compared to the separate cases of wire coil inserts
and twisted tapes. Approximately, 4565% increase in Nusselt
number is observed from Figs. 1013 and also from Ref. [6]. Not-
withstanding the fact that both friction factor and Nusselt number
behave similarly, i.e., they increase with the increase in the coil
helix angle and coil wire diameter, the friction factor and Nusselt
number are weak functions of coil helix angle and strong func-
tions of coil wire diameter. The effect of twist ratio of the twisted
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Fig. 12 Effect of coil wire diameter on Nusselt numbercorru-
gation angle 5 30 deg, c 5 0.6
Fig. 13 Comparison of present experimental Nusselt number
data with the experimental Nusselt number data, Eq. (3) of
Ref. [4]
tape has not been studied in this investigation since it is now well
established that the twisted tapes function effectively only for
twist ratio 2.55. The above result is expected and it is explained
by the fact that, in case of only twisted tapes, there is only swirl
flow; whereas, there is additional fluid mixing due to flow separa-
tion, reattachment, and recirculation of fluid in the presence of
wire coil inserts. Also, there is faster momentum and thermal
energy diffusion and transport in both molecular and bulk flow
levels causing additional pressure loss and faster heat transmis-
sion. The inertia force due to swirl flow generated by twisted tapes
enhances the periodic boundary layer separation and reattachment
with temperature and velocity profiles equally flatter, caused by
wire coil inserts and hence the enhancement. It is also observed
from the figures that the effect of wire coil inserts is more promi-
nent on Nusselt number than that on friction factor, because the
thermal boundary layer is more affected and the hydrodynamic
boundary layer is less affected. This is the defiance of the Reynolds
analogy. However, the thermohydraulic performance evaluation has
shown that the combined use of wire coil inserts and twisted tapes
SEPTEMBER 2012, Vol. 4 / 031003-5
 (with and without center-clearance) are better than the individual Table 1 Performance ratio R1. Case: First digit for rib pitch and
enhancement technique and the combined use is recommended. second digit for rib height.

R1
4 Correlations
One major objective of the present work has been to develop Case
correlations for friction factor and Nusselt number to predict pres-
sure drop and heat transfer coefficient. These correlations have c 0.2 22 12 21 11
1.334 1.445 1.129 1.323
been developed by log-linear regression analysis. c 0.4 22 12 21 11
The laminar flow is influenced by the following conditions: (1) the 1.558 1.801 1.674 1.463
thermal boundary condition, (2) entrance region effect, (3) natural c 0.6 22 12 21 11
convection at low Reynolds number, (4) fluid property variation 1.284 1.393 1.226 1.395
across the boundary layer, and (5) the duct cross-sectional shape.
Correlations developed here take care of all these effects. The heat
transfer data are presented for uniform wall heat flux boundary con-
dition. The friction factor data are for the isothermal condition. The
heated/cooled condition data will need usual viscosity corrections. Table 2 Performance ratio R2. Case: First digit for rib pitch and
second digit for rib height.
Correlation for predicting friction factor for combined center-
cleared twisted tape and wire coil inserts is given by Eq. (5) R2
 
p 2  2d=Dh 2  1= Case
f ReSw 17:355 1 106 Sw2:67 7
p  4d=Dh
0 1 c 0.2 22 12 21 11
1 exp0:057c  exp0:0538 sin #C 0.657 0.634 0.673 0.641
B c 0.4
 @1  0:715 A (5) 22 12 21 11
d= 0.552 0.558 0.550 0.623
Dh c 0.6 22 12 21 11
0.896 0.775 0.753 0.867
The corresponding Nusselt number correlation is given by Eq. (6)

2 2:0 30:1
 
0:9445 2:5
 
0:565 2:655
1 0:073215Gz 7:9343  106
Sw: Pr  0:14
6 7 lb
6
Num 5:1724 7
5  l
w
1:5249  1015 Reax :Ra2:18
(6)
0 1
B 1 exp0:09913c  exp0:08817 sin #C
 @1  0:6287 A
d=
Dh

All correlations have been developed by log-linear regression analy- Criterion 2 Basic geometry fixed, heat duty fixedreduce
sis. The correlations predict experimental data within 6 11%. pumping powerperformance ratio R2 given by Eq. (9).

5 Performance Evaluation  
fsw Re3sw wCC
Bergles et al. [30] have suggested several criteria for the per- R2   (9)
formance evaluation of enhancement devices. The performance of fsw Re3sw w=oCC
the present geometry has been evaluated on the basis of the fol-
lowing two important criteria:
For a given Re, RewCC, the NuwCC is obtained from the correla-
Criterion 1 Basic geometry fixed, pumping power fixed tion. Rew/oCC corresponding to NuwCC is obtained from the corre-
increase heat transferperformance ratio R1 given by Eq. (7). lation for the case without center-clearance.
The performance ratios R1 and R2 are given in Tables 1 and 2,
NuwCC respectively. The cases in Tables 1 and 2 are referred by two dig-
R1 (7)
Nuw=oCC its; the first digit is due to coil wire diameter (1, 0.07692; 2,
0.1026), and the second digit is due to coil helix angle (1, 30 deg;
NuwCC at a given Re, RewCC is obtained from the correlation 2, 60 deg). The values of c for cases 1, 2, and 3 are 0.2, 0.4, and
for the case with center-clearance. Nuw/oCC for the case with- 0.6, respectively.
out center-clearance is taken at the Re, Rew/oCC, where Rew/ From the tables, it is observed that all the cases with c  0 are
oCC is calculated from the constant pumping power consider-
better than c 0. However, c 0.6 is worse than c 0.4 and,
ation as given in Eq. (8) below therefore, it may be concluded that c > 0.4 would not perform bet-
ter. This is irrespective of any coil wire diameter and coil helix
  1=3 angle. It has also been observed that the combined wire coil
fsw;wCC
Resw;w=oCC Re3sw;wCC (8) inserts and center-cleared twisted tape performs better than the
fsw;w=oCC individual enhancement technique acting alone. From Tables 1

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 and 2 it is observed that there is 2540% increase in heat transfer l nondimensional twisted tape length LT=L,
for constant pumping power and 2530% reduction in pumping dimensionless
power for constant heat duty depending upon the coil wire diame- m_ mass flow rate, kg/min L
ter and coil helix angle. Num axially averaged Nusselt number L1 hz Dkh dz,
In case of combined enhancement techniques, the hydrody- dimensionless 0
namic boundary layer is more disturbed than the thermal boundary DPz pressure drop, mm
layer by wire coil inserts in the duct. The velocity profile is less DP0 pressure drop, N/m2
flat than the temperature profile. Momentum loss due to mixing of P wetted perimeter in the particular cross section of the
fluid with asymmetric velocity profiles is more. But, the hydrody- duct, coil pitch, m

namic boundary layer decays faster than the thermal boundary Pr fluid Prandtl number lCp k, dimensionless
layer. The thermal boundary layer separation and reattachment is Ra Rayleigh number Gr  Pr
more frequent than the hydrodynamic boundary layer. Therefore, Reax Reynolds number based on axial velocity qVa Dh =l,
the increase in heat transfer is more than the increase in pressure dimensionless
drop. Resw Reynolds number based on swirl velocity qVs Dh =l,
dimensionless
6 Conclusions Re Reynolds number based on plain duct
diameter qV0 Dh =l, dimensionless


The experimental friction factor and Nusselt number data for

laminar flow through a circular duct having wire coil inserts and Sw swirl parameter Resw py Re py
.   2 0:5
fitted with center-cleared twisted tape have been presented. Pre-  
p 4d 1 p= , dimensionless
dictive friction factor and Nusselt number correlations have also p  =Dh 2y
been presented. The thermohydraulic performance has been eval-
uated. The major findings of this experimental investigation are T temperature, K
that the center-cleared twisted tapes in combination with wire coil DTw wall to fluid bulk temperature difference, K
inserts perform better than the individual enhancement technique Va mean axial velocity m_=qAc , m/s
acting alone for laminar flow through a circular duct up to a cer- Vo mean velocity based on plain duct diameter m_=qA0 ,
tain amount of center-clearance. m/s
Vs actual swirl
 velocity at duct
 2 0:5
Acknowledgment wall Va 1 p=2y , m/s
n
The author gratefully acknowledges the generous financial sup- X: Pr the value of n depends on the exponent of Pr in the
port of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), correlation
  0:14
Department of Science and Technology (DST), and Council of Y lb 1
 5:172
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India lw

for the current research. y twist ratio H=Dh , dimensionless

z axial length, the distance between the measuring
Nomenclature pressure taps, m
A heat transfer area, m2
Ac axial flow cross-sectional area, p=4D2h  dDh ; m2
Ao plain duct flow cross-sectional area, p=4D2 ; m2 Greek Symbols
C twisted-tape center-clearance, m b coefficient of isobaric thermal expansion, K1
c nondimensional twisted-tape center-clearance, C/Dh, d tape thickness, m
dimensionless m fluid dynamic viscosity, kg/ms
Cp constant pressure specific heat, J/kg K q density of the fluid, kg/m3
D internal diameter of the plain duct, m h coil helix angle, deg
Dh hydraulic diameter of the test duct, 4Ao =P; m
d coil wire diameter, m
f fully developed Fanning friction Subscripts
 h 0
i 
  Dh ax
factor 1=2 DP qV 2 =z , dimensionless at axial flow condition
0 b at bulk fluid temperature
fsw swirl flow friction    2 h hydraulic diameter
factor, DP0 Dh = 2qVs2 Ls f L=Ls V0=Vs , m axially averaged
dimensionless sw at swirl flow condition
  .  w at duct wall temperature, with
4d=
f Resw f Resw f Re p  Dh p
w/o without
 z local value
 2 1
1 p=2y ; dimensionless,
Appendix
g gravitational acceleration, m/s2
Gr Grashof number gbq2 D3h DTw =l2 , dimensionless
Gz Graetz number mC _ p =kL, dimensionless Uncertainty Analysis. All the quantities that are measured to
H pitch for 180 deg rotation of twisted tape, also wire estimate the Nusselt number and the friction factor are subject to
coil pitch, m certain uncertainties due to errors in the measurement. These indi-
hz axially local heat transfer coefficient, W/(m2 K) vidual uncertainties as well as the combined effect of these are
k fluid thermal conductivity, W/(mK) presented here. The analysis is carried out on the basis of the sug-
L axial length, length of the duct, m gestion made by Kline and McClintock (1953).
  2 1=2
Ls maximum helical flow length L 1 p=2y ,m Analysis. First, the analysis for the friction factor is presented.
LT length of twisted tape, m The analysis for the Nusselt number is presented after that.

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 Friction Factor. The uncertainty in friction factor has been calculated from the
above equations.
 
1 DP qD3 Nusselt Number.
f (A1)
2 Lp Re2 l2
" hD
2  2  2 Nu (A8)
Df 1 @f @f @f k
DDP DLp DD
f f @ DP @Lp @D " 2  2  2 #0:5
 #
2 0:5 (A2) DNu 1 @ @ @
@f NuDh NuDD NuDk
DRe Nu Nu @h @D @k
@ Re
or
or
(    )0:5
"    #0:5 DNu Dh 2 DD 2
Df DDP 2 DLp 2 3DD 2 2DRe 2 (A9)
(A3) Nu h D
f DP Lp D Re

q00
DP / h (A4) h (A10)
Twi  Tb
Therefore
" 2  2  2 #0:5
DDP Dh Dh 1 @h @h @h
) (A5) Dq00 DTwi DTb
DP h h h @q00 @Twi @Tb

4m_
Re (A6) "  2  2 #0:5
pDl Dh Dq00 2 DTwi DTb
(A11)
h q00 Twi  Tb Twi  Tb
" 2  2 #0:5
DRe Dm_ DD
(A7) 0:5  2  
Re m_ D q00 V =R mC
_ p Tbo  Tbi (A12)
pDLh

2 2  2  2  2 30:5
@ 00 @ 00 @ 00 @ 00
6 q DR q DV q Dm_ q DTbo 7
Dq00 16 6
@R @V @ m_ @Tbo 7
7
00 6 7
q00 q 6  2  2  2 7
4 @ 00 @ 00 @ 00 5
q DTbi q DD q DLh
@Tbi @D @Lh

2  2  2 30:5
1 DR 4 DV
6 
2 2
 
2 2 7
6 1 mC
_ p RDTb =V R 1 mC
_ p RDTb =V V 7
6 7
6  2  2 7
6 7
6 1 Dm_ 1 DTbo 7
6  2  2 7
Dq00 6 6 V2 m_ V2 DTb 7
7
00
6 1 1 7 (A13)
q 6 RmC_ p DTb RmC_ p DTb 7
6 7
6       7
6 1 DT 2
DD 2
DL 2 7
6 bi

h 7
6   2 DTb D Lh 7
4 V2 5
1
RmC_ p DTb

where
DTb Tbo  Tbi Quantity Accuracy Quantity Accuracy

The uncertainty in Nusselt number has been calculated from the DDh 0.00002 m DL 0.001 m
Dm_ 1.667  105 kg/s Dh 0.001 m
above equations.
DT 0.025  C DV 0.1 V
The accuracies of the measured quantities are in given below in DR 0.0000 X
the tabular form

031003-8 / Vol. 4, SEPTEMBER 2012 Transactions of the ASME

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