International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321 – 330
www.elsevier.com/locate/ichmt
Thermal performance and pressure drop of the helical-coil heat
exchangers with and without helically crimped fins ☆
Paisarn Naphon
Thermo-Fluid and Heat Transfer Enhancement Lab. (TFHT), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Srinakharinwirot University, 63 Rangsit-Nakhonnayok Rd., Ongkarak, Nakhon-Nayok 26120, Thailand
Available online 19 December 2006
Abstract
In the present study, the thermal performance and pressure drop of the helical-coil heat exchanger with and without helical
crimped fins are studied. The heat exchanger consists of a shell and helically coiled tube unit with two different coil diameters.
Each coil is fabricated by bending a 9.50 mm diameter straight copper tube into a helical-coil tube of thirteen turns. Cold and hot
water are used as working fluids in shell side and tube side, respectively. The experiments are done at the cold and hot water mass
flow rates ranging between 0.10 and 0.22 kg/s, and between 0.02 and 0.12 kg/s, respectively. The inlet temperatures of cold and hot
water are between 15 and 25 °C, and between 35 and 45 °C, respectively. The cold water entering the heat exchanger at the outer
channel flows across the helical tube and flows out at the inner channel. The hot water enters the heat exchanger at the inner
helical-coil tube and flows along the helical tube. The effects of the inlet conditions of both working fluids flowing through the test
section on the heat transfer characteristics are discussed.
© 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Thermal performance; Pressure drop; Helically coiled tube; Heat exchanger
1. Introduction
Due to their high heat transfer coefficient and smaller space requirement compared with straight tubes, curved-tubes
are the most widely used tubes in several heat transfer applications, for example, heat recovery processes, air
conditioning and refrigeration systems, chemical reactors, food and dairy processes. Helical and spiral coils are well
known types of curved-tubes which have been used in a wide variety of applications. For helically coiled tubes,
numerous theoretical and experimental works have been reported on heat transfer and flow characteristics. Dravid et al.
[1] investigated numerically the effect of secondary flow on laminar flow heat transfer in helically coiled tubes.
Numerical results were compared with the measured data in the range in which they overlap. Austen and Soliman [2]
studied the influence of pitch on the pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of helical coils under uniform wall
heat flux. Two coils with different pitch ratios and the same diameter ratio were tested. Water was used as working
fluid. Prasad et al. [3] experimentally studied the pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient in the tube and shell sides
of a helical-coil heat exchanger. Yang and Ebadian [4] solved the k–ε model to analyze the fully developed turbulent
☆
Communicated by W.J. Minkowycz.
E-mail address: [email protected].
0735-1933/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2006.11.009
322 P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330
convective heat transfer in a circular cross-section helicoidal pipe with finite pitch. Xin et al. [5] studied the effects of
the Prandtl numbers and geometric parameters on the local and average convective heat transfer characteristics in
helical-pipes. The experiments were performed with three different working fluids: air, water, and ethylene-glycol. In
their second paper, Xin et al. [6] experimentally investigated the single-phase and two-phase flow pressure drop in
annular helicoidal pipes. Inagaki et al. [7] used a full-size partial model to predict the flow-induced vibration, heat
transfer and pressure drop of helically coiled tubes of an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) for the HTTR. Chen et al.
[8] studied the conjugate heat transfer of a finned oval tube. Acharya et al. [9] numerically studied the phenomenon of
steady heat transfer enhancement in coiled-tube heat exchangers due to chaotic particle paths in steady, laminar flow
with two different mixings. Ju et al. [10] investigated the performance of small bending radius helical-coil pipe. The
formulas for the Reynolds number of single-phase flow structure transition, and single-phase and two-phase flow
friction factor were obtained. Ali [11] proposed the pressure drop correlations for fluid flows through regular helical-
coil tubes. Generalized pressure drop correlations were developed in terms of the Euler number, Reynolds number, and
the geometrical group. Prabhanjan et al. [12] illustrated the advantage of using a helically coiled heat exchanger versus
a straight tube heat exchanger for heating liquids. The experiments were done in the transitional and turbulent flow
regions. In their second paper, Prabhanjan et al. [13] experimentally investigated the natural convection heat transfer
from helically coiled tubes. The predicted outlet temperature was validated by comparing with the measured data. Chen
and Zhang [14] studied the combined effects of rotation, curvature, and heating/cooling on the flow pattern, friction
factor, temperature distribution, and Nusselt number. Ko and Ting [15] studied the entropy generation of the fully
developed laminar convection in a helical coil with constant wall heat flux. Effect of Reynolds number, coil-to-tube
radius ratio and nondimensional coil pitch were discussed.
Although some information is currently available on the method to calculate the performance of the helical-coil heat
exchanger, there is still room to discuss whether it gives a reliable prediction of the heat transfer characteristics of the
helical-coil heat exchanger. The objective of this paper is to experimentally study the thermal performance and pressure
drop of a helical-coil heat exchanger with and without helically crimped fin. Effects of relevant parameters on the heat
transfer characteristics of the helical-coil heat exchanger are discussed.
2. Experimental apparatus and method
A schematic diagram of the experimental apparatus is shown in Fig. 1. The test loop consists of a test section, refrigerant loop, hot
water loop, cold water loop and data acquisition system. The test section is a helical-coil heat exchanger consisting of a shell and
helically coiled finned tube unit (Fig. 2). The test section and the connections of the piping system are designed such that parts can be
changed or repaired easily. In addition to the loop component, a full set of instruments for measuring and control of temperature and
flow rate of all fluids is installed at all important points in the circuit. The close loops of hot and cold water consist of the 0.5 m3
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of experimental apparatus.
P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330 323
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of test section.
storage tanks, the electric heaters controlled by adjusting the voltage, and a cooling coil immerged inside a storage tank. R22 is used
as the refrigerant for chilling the water. The hot water is adjusted to the desired level and controlled by temperature controller. After
the temperatures of the cold and hot water are adjusted to achieve the desired level, the water of each loop is pumped out of the
storage tank, and is passed through a filter, flow meter, test section, and returned to the storage tank. The flow rates of the water are
controlled by adjusting the valve and measured by the flow meters with an accuracy of 0.2% of full scale.
The heat exchanger consists of a steel shell and a helically coiled finned tube unit. The helical-coil tube unit consists of two
different coil diameters. Each coil is constructed by bending a 9.5 mm diameter straight copper tube into a helical-coil of thirteen
turns. The minimum and maximum diameters of helical-coil are 127.0 and 197.0 mm, respectively. Annular aluminium fins with
thickness of 0.4 mm and height of 9.6 mm are placed helically around the coil tube. The edge of fin at the inner diameter is
corrugated. Six type-T copper–constantan thermocouples are installed to measure the hot water and tube wall temperatures at the
inlet, middle, and outlet sections. The accuracy of the thermocouple is 0.1% of full scale. In addition, all the thermocouples are
precalibrated by the dry-box temperature calibrator with 0.01 °C precision. The digital manometer (YOKOKAWA, MT120) with the
accuracy of 0.02% of full scale is employed to measure the pressure drop in the tube side. The dimensions of the test section are listed
in Table 1.
An overall energy balance was performed to estimate the extent of any heat losses or gains from the surrounding. In the present
study, only the data that satisfy the energy balance conditions; ∣Qw,c − Qw,h∣Qave is less than 10%, are used in the analysis.
Experiments were conducted with various inlet temperatures and flow rates of hot water and cold water entering the test section. In
the experiments, the hot water flow rate was increased in small increments while the cold water flow rate, inlet cold water and hot
water temperatures were kept constant. The inlet hot and cold water temperatures were adjusted to achieve the desired level by using
electric heaters controlled by temperature controllers. Before any data were recorded, the system was allowed to approach the steady
Table 1
Dimensions of the helical-coil heat exchanger
Parameters Dimensions
Outer diameter of tube, mm 9.50
Inner diameter of tube, mm 7.75
Minimum diameter of helical coil, mm 127.0
Maximum diameter of helical coil, mm 197.0
Number of coil turns 13
Helical pitch, mm 30
Diameter of shell, mm 230
Length of shell, mm 420
Total length of helical coil, mm 12000
Fin spacing, mm 4.5
Fin height, mm 9.6
Fin thickness, mm 0.4
324 P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330
Table 2
Accuracy and uncertainty of measurements
Instruments Accuracy Uncertainty
Rotameter, (water flow rate, kg/s) 0.2% ±0.01
Thermocouple type T, data logger, (°C) 0.1% ±0.01
Digital manometer 0.02% ±0.02
state. Data collection was accomplished using a data acquisition system (DataTaker, DT800). The uncertainty and accuracy of the
measurements are given in Table 2.
3. Data reduction
The data reduction of the measured results is summarized in the following procedures:
Heat transferred to the cold water in the test section, Qw,c, can be calculated from
Qw;c ¼ mw;c Cp;w ðTw;c;out −Tw;c;in Þ ð1Þ
where mw,c is the mass flow rate of cold water, Cp,w is the specific heat of water, Tw,c,in and Tw,c,out are the inlet and
outlet cold water temperatures, respectively.
Heat transferred from the hot water, Qw,h, can be calculated from
Qw;h ¼ mw;h Cp;w ðTw;h;in −Tw;h;out Þ ð2Þ
where mw,h is the hot water mass flow rate, Tw,h,in and Tw,h,out are the inlet and outlet hot water temperatures, respectively.
The average heat transfer rate, Qave, used in the calculation is determined from the hot water-side and cold water-
side as follows:
Qw;c þ Qw;h
Qave ¼ : ð3Þ
2
The tube-side heat transfer coefficient for the helically coiled tube, hi, can be calculated from the average heat
transfer rate obtained from
Qave ¼ hi Ai ðTs;ave −Tw;h;ave Þ ð4Þ
where Ts,ave is the average tube wall temperature, and Tw,h,ave is the average hot water temperature, and Ai is the inside
surface area of the helical-coil tube.
Fig. 3. Variation of outlet cold water temperature with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled finned tube heat exchanger.
P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330 325
The overall heat transfer coefficient can be determined from
Qave ¼ Ui Ai ðFÞDTLMTD ð5Þ
where ΔTLMTD is the logarithmic-mean temperature difference, F is the correction factor which is equal to 1 for this
case.
An outside heat transfer coefficient, ho, is usually obtained from the overall thermal resistance consisting of three
resistances in series: the convective resistance on the inner surface, conductance resistance of the pipe wall, and the
convective resistance on the outer surface:
1 1 dt 1
¼ þ þ : ð6Þ
Ui Ai go ho Ao kt Aave hi Ai
The overall surface efficiency, ηo, defined as the ratio of the effective heat transfer area to the total heat transfer area
can be expressed in term of fin efficiency, η, fin surface area, Af, and total outside surface area, Ao,as follows:
Af
go ¼ 1− ð1−gÞ: ð7Þ
Ao
The fin efficiency, η, is determined from:
tanhðMro /Þ
g¼ ð8Þ
Mro /
where
Rf Rf
/¼ −1 1 þ 0:35ln ð9Þ
ro ro
2ho
M2 ¼ ð10Þ
k f df
where Rf is the fin radius, ro is the outer tube radius, kf is the thermal conductivity of the fin, δf is the fin thickness.
Fig. 4. Variation of average heat transfer rate with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled tube heat exchanger.
326 P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330
Fig. 5. Variation of friction factor with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled tube heat exchanger.
To obtain the outside heat transfer coefficient and the overall surface efficiency, an iterative procedure is employed
to solve the Eqs. (6), (7), (8), (9) and (10).
4. Results and discussion
Fig. 3 illustrates the variation of the outlet temperature of cold water with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled finned
tube heat exchanger. It is found that when the inlet hot and cold water temperatures, and cold water mass flow rate are kept
constant, the outlet cold water temperature increases with increasing hot water mass flow rate. This is because the heat
transferred from the hot water to cold water increases with increasing hot water mass flow rate. Therefore, the outlet cold water
temperature also tends to increase when hot water mass flow rate increases. Considering Fig. 3, which shows the effect of cold
water mass flow rate on the outlet cold water temperature, it is clearly seen that at a specific inlet cold and hot water
temperatures, and hot water mass flow rate, when the outlet hot water temperature decreases, the temperature difference between
inlet and outlet hot water temperature increases. Therefore, one way of keeping the heat transfer rate equal to the hot water-side is
by increasing the cold water mass flow rate. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that the outlet cold water temperature decreases
with increasing cold water mass flow rate.
Fig. 6. Variation of heat exchanger effectiveness with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled finned tube heat exchanger.
P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330 327
Fig. 7. Variation of heat exchanger effectiveness with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled tube heat exchanger.
Fig. 4 shows the variation of the average heat transfer rate with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled tube heat exchanger.
As expected, at a specific temperature of cold and hot water entering the test section, the heat transfer rate depends directly on hot
water mass flow rate. Also, at the same hot water mass flow rate, the heat transfer rates at lower cold water mass flow rate are lower
than those at higher ones across the range of hot water mass flow rate. However, this effect becomes relatively larger as hot water
mass flow rate increases as shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 5 shows the variation of the friction factor with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled tube heat exchanger. It can be
seen from the figure that the friction factors tend to decrease as hot water mass flow rate increases. In addition, at a given hot water
mass flow rate, effect of inlet hot water temperature is insignificant effect to friction factor.
Figs. 6 and 7 show the variation of the heat exchanger effectiveness with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled finned tube
heat exchanger and for helically coiled tube heat exchanger, respectively. The heat exchanger effectiveness used to evaluate the
performance of the helical-coil heat exchanger is calculated from
Qave Qave
e¼ ¼ : ð11Þ
Qmax ðmCp Þmin ðTw;h;in −Tw;c;in Þ
It is found from these figures that the effectiveness tends to decrease with increasing hot water mass flow rate. This phenomenon
can be clearly explained by Eq. (11). From the whole range of hot and cold water mass flow rates, the capacity rate of the cold water,
Fig. 8. Variation of heat exchanger effectiveness with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled finned tube heat exchanger.
328 P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330
Fig. 9. Variation of heat exchanger effectiveness with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled tube heat exchanger.
(mCp)w,c, is higher than that of the hot water, (mCp)w,h. The minimum capacity rate, (mCp)min, in Eq. (11) is replaced by the capacity
rate of the hot water. Therefore, the effectiveness decreases as hot water mass flow rate increases. At a given hot water mass flow
rate, the inlet hot water temperature has significant effect on the heat exchanger effectiveness. This is because the effectiveness
depends directly on average heat transfer rate.
Figs. 8 and 9 show the variation of the effectiveness with hot water mass flow rate for helically coiled finned tube heat exchanger
and for helically coiled tube heat exchanger, respectively. It should be noted that the effectiveness is inversely proportional to the hot
water mass flow rate. The effectiveness decreases rapidly in the low hot water mass flow rate region and then decreases moderately
as the hot water mass flow rate increases. For a specific hot water mass flow rate at constant inlet hot and cold water temperatures, the
effectiveness increases with increasing cold water mass flow rate. Again, it can be clearly seen from Eq. (11) that the average heat
transfer rate increases with increasing cold water mass flow rate but the maximum heat transfer rate is kept constant. Therefore, the
effectiveness also increases.
5. Conclusion
This paper presents new experimental data from the measurement of the average in-tube convective heat transfer
characteristics and thermal performance of helical-coil heat exchanger. The heat exchanger consists of thirteen
turns concentric helically coiled tubes with and without helically crimped fins. The conclusion can be summarized
as follows;
– Outlet cold water temperature increases with increasing hot water mass flow rate.
– An average heat transfer rate increases as hot and cold water mass flow rates increase.
– The friction factor decreases with increasing hot water mass flow rate.
– Inlet hot and cold water mass flow rates and inlet hot water temperature have significant effect on the heat exchanger
effectiveness.
Nomenclatures
A Area
Cp Specific heat, kJ/ (kg °C)
d Tube diameter, m
D Coil diameter, m
f Friction factor
F Correction factor
h Heat transfer coefficient, kW/(m2 °C)
k Thermal conductivity, kW/(m °C)
m Mass flow rate, kg/s
P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330 329
Nu Nusselt number
Pr Prandtl number
Q Heat transfer rate, kW
r Tube radius, m
R Coil radius, m
Re Reynolds number
T Temperature, °C
U Overall heat transfer coefficient, kW/(m2 °C)
δ Thickness, m
ηo Overall surface efficiency
η Fin efficiency
ε Effectiveness
Subscripts
ave Average
c Cold
f Fin
h Hot
i Inside
in Inlet
LMTD Long mean temperature difference
o Outside
out Outlet
s Surface, wall
t Tube
w Water
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express their appreciation to the Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) for providing
financial support for this study. The author also wishes to acknowledge Mr. Jumras Tritasanon, Mr. Montree Fenner
and Mr. Monton Moungthong, for their assistance in some of the experimental work.
References
[1] A.N. Dravid, K.A. Smith, E.W. Merrill, P.L.T. Brian, Effect of secondary fluid on laminar flow heat transfer in helically coiled tubes, AIChE
Journal 17 (1971) 1114–1122.
[2] D.S. Austen, H.M. Soliman, Laminar flow and heat transfer in helically coiled tubes with substantial pitch, Experimental Thermal and Fluid
Science 1 (1988) 183–194.
[3] B.V.S.S.S. Prasad, D.H. Das, A.K. Prabhakar, Pressure drop, heat transfer and performance of a helically coiled tubular exchanger, Heat
Recovery Systems & CHP 9 (1989) 249–256.
[4] G. Yang, M.A. Ebadian, Turbulent forced convection in a helicoidal pipe with substantial pitch, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
39 (1996) 2015–2022.
[5] R.C. Xin, M.A. Ebadian, The effects of Prandtl numbers on local and average convective heat transfer characteristics in helical pipes, Journal of
Heat Transfer 119 (1997) 467–473.
[6] R.C. Xin, A. Awwad, Z.F. Dong, M.A. Ebadian, An experimental study of single-phase and two-phase flow pressure drop in annular helicoidal
pipes, International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow 18 (1997) 482–488.
[7] Y. Inagaki, H. Koiso, H. Takumi, I. Ioka, Y. Miyamoto, Thermal hydraulic study on a high-temperature gas–gas heat exchanger with helically
coiled tube bundles, Nuclear Engineering and Design 185 (1998) 141–151.
[8] Y. Chen, M. Fiebig, N.K. Mitra, Conjugate heat transfer of a finned oval tube: flow pattern, Numerical Heat Transfer. Part A, Applications
33 (1998) 371–385.
[9] N. Acharya, M. Sen, H.C. Chang, Analysis of heat transfer enhancement in coiled-tube heat exchangers, International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer 44 (2001) 3189–3199.
[10] H. Ju, Z. Huang, Y. Xu, B. Duan, Y. Yu, Hydraulic performance of small bending radius helical coil-pipe, Journal of Nuclear Science and
Technology 18 (2001) 826–831.
330 P. Naphon / International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34 (2007) 321–330
[11] S. Ali, Pressure drop correlations for flow through regular helical coil tubes, Fluid Dynamics Research 28 (2001) 295–310.
[12] D.G. Prabhanjan, G.S.V. Ragbavan, T.J. Rennie, Comparison of heat transfer rates between a straight tube heat exchanger and a helically coiled
heat exchanger, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 29 (2002) 185–191.
[13] D.G. Prabhanjan, T.J. Rennie, G.S.V. Raghavan, Natural convection heat transfer from helical coiled tubes, International Journal of Thermal
Sciences 43 (2004) 359–365.
[14] H. Chen, B. Zhang, Fluid flow and mixed convection heat transfer in a rotating curved pipe, International Journal of Thermal Science 42 (2003)
1047–1059.
[15] T.H. Ko, K. Ting, Entropy generation and thermodynamic optimization of fully developed laminar convection in a helical coil, International
Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 32 (2004) 214–223.
