TE-5 A CFD Study of Single-Phase Flows with Twisted Tape Inserts

K. J. Farrell and R. J. Lowery

2006; revised 2006

To evaluate the thermal-hydraulic effectiveness of twisted tape inserts, we used computational fluid dynamics (CFD). After validating plain tube performance, we computed heat transfer (heating and cooling) and pressure drop for several twisted tape configurations in a 25.4-mm diameter tube with single-phase flow at laminar and turbulent Reynolds numbers from 102 to 105. Results for both the plain tubes and tubes with the twisted tape inserts are compared to HTRI results as well as to correlations in the literature. The simulation results form a consistent set of data from which we can assess the thermal-hydraulic effectiveness of the tape inserts over a range of Reynolds numbers and twist ratios.