Investigating the Effect of Heat Transfer Influenced by the Application of Wavy Corrugated Twisted Tape Inserts in Double Pipe Heat Exchangers

This study investigates the heat transfer and friction factor characteristics in a heat exchanger utilizing copper wavy (corrugated) twisted tape inserts. By inducing turbulent flow within the inner tube of the heat exchanger, these inserts generated increased turbulence, thereby enhancing heat transfer and causing a rise in pressure drop. The copper twisted tapes, with various twist ratios (TR=10.7, 8.5, 7.1), measured 1 meter in length and 14 mm in width. The heat exchanger's outer tube was made of mild steel, with an outer diameter of 0.0198 m and an inner diameter of 0.0142 m, while the inner tube was constructed of copper, with an outer diameter of 0.038 m and an inner diameter of 0.032 m. The overall length of the pipe-in-pipe heat exchanger was 1.4 m. Bulk mean temperatures were recorded at different positions for various water flow rates, and new correlations for the Nusselt number and friction factor were derived from the results for the twisted tape inserts. The Reynolds number ranged from 5000 to 17000. Comparative analyses revealed that the wavy twisted tape with a twist ratio of 7.1 provided the highest heat transfer rate, showing a 172% increase in the Nusselt number and a 32.11% increase in the friction factor relative to a smooth tube.