Effect of Vortex Generator Angle on Fin and Tube Heat Exchanger

In refrigeration systems, a common installed component is the fin and tube heat exchanger. The fluid that passes through the fins has lower thermal conductivity than the fluid flowing inside the tubes, resulting in high thermal resistance. To address this problem, a vortex generator was introduced in the design of the fin and tube heat exchanger. This passive approach aims to improve heat transfer within heat exchangers by promoting the mixing of hot and cold fluids, thereby improving the convection coefficient. This study seeks to investigate the impact of the longitudinal vortex on pressure drop and the increase in the convection coefficient. Through numerical simulations, the study examined seven rows of tubes at angles of attack of 5°, 10°, and 15°. The vortex generator that used in this study are rectangular winglet pairs (RWP), concave rectangular winglet pairs (CRWP), and convex rectangular winglet pairs (CRWP). It was concluded that using Concave Rectangular Winglet Pairs (CRWP) as the vortex generator shape at a 15° angle of attack led to the highest difference in convection coefficient, reaching 154.13% of the baseline case with a Reynolds value of 662. Furthermore, the use of a Rectangular Winglet Pairs (RWP) vortex generator at a 5° angle of attack and a Reynolds value of 284 resulted in the least impact on pressure drop, with an increase of 45.29% compared to the baseline case.