Numerical calculation of heat transfer and pressure drop in axially finned in-line and staggered tube bank heat exchangers

Numerical prediction and optimization of fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of tube bank heat exchangers with axial fins are investigated in this work. Finite volume method is used for solving the governing differential equations numerically. Moreover, Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm II (MOGA-II) is selected to find optimum designs for the optimization study. Unfinned in-line and staggered tube bank configurations are selected from existing studies in literature and validation studies are carried out. Firstly, the effect of axial finning for four different axial and transversal pitch ratios are investigated for in-line and staggered tube banks. Then, numerical optimization of heat and fluid flow over in-line and staggered tube banks for both unfinned and axially finned cases are presented. Optimization problem has two goals which are maximization of total heat transfer from tube bank and minimization of tube bank volume for the given mass flow rate, allowable pressure drop and tube bank effectiveness. As a result, axial fins improve heat transfer for both in-line and staggered tube banks, and volume can be decreased for staggered arrangements.