Experimental investigation of forced convection heat transfer of heat exchangers with different pin geometries in in-line and staggered design

Abstract

In this study, the effects of forced convection heat transfer on the surfaces of pin plate heat exchangers with different geometries modified to the heat exchanger form were experimentally investigated. A total of 8 pin fin plate heat exchangers, four of which are staggered and the other four are in-line, were used in the experiments. The heat transfer surface areas of the pin plate heat exchangers are produced equally. The only difference is their geometry, which is produced in four different shapes: triangle, circle, ellipse and square. The experiments were carried out at air velocities of 1 to 6 m/s with 1 m/s increments and at 10 W and 50 W input powers with 10 W increments. The staggered configuration of the pin fin plates demonstrated high performance in heat transfer. The study found that heat exchangers with cornerless pin plates have lower heat transfer compared to those with cornered pin plates. The pressure drops increased as the velocity of the coolant air increased, and the highest-pressure drop was observed in staggered triangular and elliptical pin plate heat exchangers. This research is considered innovative as it involves an experimental comparison between staggered and in-line pin plate heat exchangers in four different geometries, all with equal surface area.