The 2nd Joint International Conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)”

A-030 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

Effect of Twisted-tape Inserts on Heat Transfer in a Tube

Watcharin Noothong1, Smith Eiamsa-ard2 and Pongjet Promvonge1, *

1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok,
10520, Thailand
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok 10530, Thailand

Abstract: Influences of the twisted tape insertion on heat transfer and flow friction characteristics in a concentric double pipe heat
exchanger have been studied experimentally. In the experiments, the swirling flow was introduced by using twisted tape placed inside
the inner test tube of the heat exchanger with different twist ratios, y = 5.0 and 7.0. The experimental results revealed that the
increase in heat transfer rate of the twisted-tape inserts is found to be strongly influenced by tape-induced swirl or vortex motion.
Over the range investigated, the maximum Nusselt numbers for using the enhancement devices with y = 5.0 and 7.0 are 188% and
159%, respectively, higher than that for the plain tube. In addition, the effects of the twisted tape on the heat transfer enhancement
efficiency are also investigated.

Keywords: Twisted Tape, Heat Transfer, Heat Exchanger, Swirl Flow, Enhancement Efficiency

1. INTRODUCTION

Heat exchanger is the apparatus providing heat transfer between two or more fluids, and they can be classified according to the
mode of flow of fluid or their construction methods. Heat exchangers with the convective heat transfer of fluid inside the tubes are
frequently used in many engineering application. Augmentation heat transfer, in connection with fluid mixing or non mixing, is also
involved which most heat exchangers have no contact between the fluids. At present, the technology of the twisted-tape insert is
widely used in various industries. Insertion of twisted tapes in a tube provides a simple passive technique for enhancing the
convective heat transfer by introducing swirl into the bulk flow and by disrupting the boundary layer at the tube surface due to
repeated changes in the surface geometry. It has been explained that such tapes induce turbulence and superimposed vortex motion
(swirl flow) causing a thinner boundary layer and consequently resulting in a high heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number due to
repeated changes in the twisted tape geometry. On consideration of the heat transfer enhancement, it can be considered through
bringing the twisted-tape to insert while the pressure drop inside the tube is higher. Because of low assets and easy setting up, it is
widely used, especially in a compact heat exchanger. A heat transfer enhancement concept in which swirl was introduced in the flow
was proposed by Kreit and Margolis (1959). In this concept, part of the fluid enters axially while the remainder is injected
tangentially at various locations along the tube axis. The radial pressure gradient results in thinning of the thermal boundary layer
with an accompanying improvement in heat transfer. Most of the swirl flows were created by insertion of a twisted tape in the tube.
Twisted tapes, when inserted into tubes, tend to promote turbulence as well as to intensity mixing of the hot fluid and cold fluid.
Thin in turn improves the heat transfer process. Many researches have investigated the effect of geometry of twisted-tapes on heat
transfer and friction in a circular or rectangular smooth pipe in both experimental and numerical studies. Date [1], Date and Saha [2]
numerically predicted the friction and heat transfer characteristics for laminar flow in a circular tube fitted with regularly spaced
twisted-tape elements that were connected by thin circular rods. Ray and Date [3] investigated experimentally correlations of heat
transfer and flow frictions in a square duct with twisted-tape insert. Kumar and Prasad [4] reported the improved solar collectors of
water heating types by means of twisted tapes inserted in the water flow tubes. Sukhatme et al. [5] studied experimentally the effect
of the twisted-tape insert on heat transfer rate and pressure drop in laminar flow under uniform heat flux. On the other hand
Duplessis and Kroger [6] made the experimental and numerical studies with the constant wall temperature in laminar flow. Lepina
and Bergles [7] provide a correlation of the heat transfer inside the tube for turbulent flow which can be utilized in the heat exchanger
industry.
In the present investigation, the influence of twisted-tape inserts on enhancement heat transfer efficiency, Nusselt number and flow
friction behaviors in a double pipe heat exchanger is studied. In the experimental condition, a twisted-tape was inserted into the inner
tube at twist ratios: y = P/D = 5.0 and 7.0, respectively. All of the experiments were carried out at the same inlet condition with the
Reynolds number of the inner tube, Re = 2000 to 12000.

2. METHODOLOGY

2.1 Experimental Apparatus

Figures 1 and 2 show a schematic view of the experimental setup and a concentric double pipe heat exchanger fitted with a
twisted tape. The test section consists of concentric straight pipes made of Plexiglas, which are joined at regular interval of 1.0 m by
flanges. The inner diameter of the outer pipe is 50 mm and the annulus (flow passage) is of 20 mm in the radial direction throughout.
Water is supplied to the pipe from the chilled water loop of capacity 0.3 m3, an electrical heater controlled by adjusting the voltage, a
stirrer, and a cooling coil immerged inside a storage tank. Hot air from a 7.5 kW blower was directed through the inner tube, while
cold water was pumped through the annulus. In the test run, the tapes were placed in two different twisted ratios: y = 0.6 and 0.8 as
depicted in Fig. 2. Twisted tapes were made from stainless steel strips of thickness 1.0 mm and width 19.5 mm. They were
fabricated by twisting a straight tape, about its longitudinal axis, while being held under tension. All the pressure readings are taken
under isothermal conditions. Inclined and U-tube manometers with manometric fluid (SG = 0.826) as working fluid is used for
measuring the pressure drop at each probe location. The least count of the pressure measurement manometer is 0.5 mm water is used
as the working fluid for entire study. Liquid and air flow meters were used to measure both water and air flow rates. The volumetric

Corresponding author: kppongje@kmitl.ac.th

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 The 2nd Joint International Conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)”
A-030 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

flow rates of the hot air and cold water were adjusted by control valves, situated before the inlet ports. The inlet air was heated by an
adjustable electrical heater. Both the inlet and outlet temperatures of the hot air and the cold water were measured by multi-channel
with iron-Constantan thermocouple (type K). It was necessary to measure the temperature at 15 stations altogether at the outer
surface of the inner tube for finding out the average Nusselt number.

PC Computer

Data Logger with

Thermocouple type K

Flow out
Concentric Tube Heat Exchanger

Flow in
(Hot air)

Flow out
Rotameter
Rotameter

U-Manometer
Flow in with Water
(Cold water)
Chiller

Thermostat
with
Electrical Heater
Water
Reservoir

Blower
Centrifugal Pump

Fig. 1 Schematic diagrams of experimental apparatus

2.2 Data reduction equations

For fluid flows in a concentric tube heat exchanger, the heat transfer rate of the hot fluid (air) in the inner tube can be expressed as:

Q = MC p ( To − Ti ) (1)

while the heat transfer of the cold fluid (water) for the outer tube is
~
Q = hA( Tw − Tb ) (2)

whereas,

Tb = ( To + Ti ) / 2 (3)

and

∑T
~
Tw = w / 15 (4)

Where Tw is the local wall temperature and evaluated at the outer wall surface of the inner tube. It must be measured at the depth
from the outer surface of 0.5 mm. The average wall temperatures are calculated from 15 points, lined between the inlet and exit of
the inner tube. The average heat transfer coefficient is calculated from the energy balance are estimated as follows:
~
h = MC p ( To − Ti ) / A( Tw − Tb ) (5)

The mean value of the Nusselt number is calculated based on the mean wall temperature T w and the local mean bulk fluid
temperature.

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 The 2nd Joint International Conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)”
A-030 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

hD
Nu = (6)
k

Where, h and k are the mean heat transfer coefficient and mean thermal conductivity of the fluid, respectively, at all thermocouple
location. The local thermal conductivity k of the fluid is calculated from the fluid properties at the local mean bulk fluid
temperature. The Reynolds number is calculated based on the difference rate Q through the test section.

Re = VD / v (7)

Where v is the kinematics viscosity of the working fluid. Friction factor can be written as follows:

∆P
f = (8)
 L  V 2 

  ρ
 D  2 

Flow out
(Cold water)
Outer tube
Flow out Inner tube
(Hot air)
Flow in
Dc D
(Hot air)

Flow in
(Cold water)

Fig. 2 The inner tube fitted with twisted tape at different twist ratios (y = 5.0 and 7.0)

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In the case of the twisted tape inserts, the means Nusselt numbers (of the inner tube or hot air) increased about 188% for y = 5.0
and 159% for y = 7.0, when compared with the plain tube. It was shown that the smaller of the twist ratio, the higher in mean
Nusselts number as seen in Fig. 3(a). From the experimental results, it is clear that the twisted tape inserts caused swirl and pressure
gradient in the radial direction. The boundary layer along the tube wall would be thinner with the increase of radial swirl and
pressure resulting inn more heat flow through the fluid. Moreover, swirl caused the flow to be turbulent, which led to even better
convection heat transfer. From the figure, it is depicted that the effect of the twisted tape inserts decreased at low Reynolds numbers
due to the weak swirl and low flow velocity. Thus, the increase in Nusselt number was low at smaller Reynolds number, while it
became greater at the higher Reynolds numbers. This phenomenon is related to the speed of the swirl-flow of the hot air and the
results of the destruction of the boundary layer level. Throughout the experimental results, it is obvious that the narrow twist ratio (y
= 5.0) yielded the higher values of heat transfer than those were at the greater twist ratio (y = 7.0). This was due to the more violently
swirl with the narrow twist ratio. The friction factor in the inner tube varied with Reynolds number as shown in Fig. 3(b). It can be
seen that the frictions are similar in trend for both the plain tube and the tube fitted with twisted tape inserts. It was observed that the
twisted tape inserts caused swirling flow into the tube and leaded to high friction of 3.37 and 2.94 times of the plain tube, for y = 5.0
and 7.0, respectively in comparison with the plain tube. It can be seen that for the y = 5.0 gave smaller value of friction than that y =
7.0 because the intervals gave lower value of swirling flow than those in the case of small twist ratio.

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 The 2nd Joint International Conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)”
A-030 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

120

(a)
100

Nusselt number
80

60

40

20

0.5 (b)

0.4
Friction factor

y=6.0
0.3 y=8.0
Plain tube
0.2

0.1

03

(c)
Enhancement efficiency

2.5

η =0.836Re
0.17 -0.3
y

1.5

1
0 3000 6000 9000 12000 15000
Reynolds number

Fig. 3 Nusselts number, friction factor and enhancement efficiency versus Reynolds number for the tube fitted with twisted tape at
different twist ratios (y)

A useful comparison between swirl and axial flow can be made by comparing heat transfer coefficients at equal pumping power,
since this is relevant to the operation cost. For constant pumping power;

( V&∆P ) p = ( V&∆P )t (9)

and the relationship between friction and Reynolds number can be expressed as:

( f Re3 )p = ( f Re3 )t (10)

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 The 2nd Joint International Conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)”
A-030 (P) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

The enhancement efficiency ( η ) at constant pumping power is the ratio of the convective heat transfer coefficient of the tube with
twisted tape to the plain tube which can be written as follows:

ht
η= (11)
hp
pp

The enhancement efficiency for twisted tapes can be written as:

ht
η= = 0.836 Ret 0.17 y −0.38 (12)
hp
pp

Throughout the results of the experimentation, it appears that use of the small twist ratio (y) leads to higher enhancement
efficiency than that of the larger twisted ratio (y) as can be seen in Fig. 3(c). It can be seen that the enhancement efficiency increases
as the twisted ratio (y) decreases which generally higher at high Reynolds numbers for all twist ratios. This suggests that twisted
tapes are feasible in terms of energy saving at higher Reynolds numbers. It is assumed that the performance improvement in the
intervals of Reynolds number and the sizes of the twisted tape is progressively developing. Thus it is possible to use the devices with
the various styles of tapes inserts to reduce the pressure drop and possibly increase the heat transfer.

4. CONCLUSION

Experimental investigation of enhancement efficiency, heat transfer and friction factor characteristics of circular tube fitted with
twisted tape inserts of different twist ratios has been studied. It can be observed that the swirl flow helps decrease the boundary layer
thickness of the hot air flow and increase residence time of hot air in the inner tube. The enhancement efficiency and Nusselt number
increases with decreasing the twist ratio and friction factor also increases with decreasing the twist ratio. The partitioning and
blockage of the tube flow cross-section by the tape, resulting in higher flow velocities. Secondary fluid motion is generated by the
tape twist, and the resulting twist mixing improves the convection heat transfer.

5. REFERENCES

[1] Date, A.W. (1974) Prediction of fully developed flow in a tube containing a twisted tape, International Journal Heat Mass
Transfer, 17, pp. 845-859.
[2] Date, A.W. and Saha, S.K. (1990) Numerical prediction of laminar flow and heat transfer in a tube fitted with regularly spaced
twisted-tape elements, International Journal Heat Fluid Flow, 11, pp. 346-354.
[3] Ray, S. and Date, A.W. (2003) Friction and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Flow through Square Duct with Twisted Tape Insert,
International Journal Heat and Mass Transfer, 46, pp. 889-902.
[4] Kumar, A. and Prasad, B.N. (2000) Investigation of twisted tape inserted solar water heaters-heat transfer, friction factor and
thermal performance results, Renewable Energy Journal, 19, pp. 379-398.
[5] Sukhatme, S.P., Gaitonde, U.N., Shidore, C.S. and Kuncolienkar, R.S. (1987) Forced convection heat transfer to visous liqiuid
in laminar flow in a tube with a twisted tape, Proceding Ninth Natl. Heat Mass Transfer Conference, (Paper no. HMT 7-87)
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, Part B, 1-7.
[6] Duplessis, J.P. and Kroeger, D.G. (1983) Numerical prediction of laminar flow with heat transfer in tube with a twisted tape
insert, Proceeding of the International Conference on Numerical Methods in Laminar and Turbulent Flow, pp. 775-785.
[7] Lepina, R.F. and Bergles, A.E. (1969) Heat transfer and pressure drop in tape-generated swirl flow of single-phase water, ASME
Journal Heat Transfer, 91, pp. 434-442.