Heat transfer and flow characteristics of a novel turbulator design in heat exchanger: Experimental and numerical analysis

Turbulators are used in heat exchangers to increase the contact surfaces of fluids and enhance heat transfer rates by promoting turbulence flow. This is particularly important in applications that require high productivity and capabilities. The use of turbulators can lead to maximum energy efficiency, resulting in high efficiency and lower costs. This investigation presents a comprehensive experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach into the influence of turbulator-induced disturbances on heat transfer characteristics in a double pipe heat exchanger. In this study, two innovative turbulators (named TY and TZ) were designed to enhance the performance of heat exchangers. The turbulators are inserted into the inner pipe of the double pipe heat exchanger. According to the experimental and numerical results, compared to the plain pipe condition (without turbulator), it was observed that maximum temperature differences were reached with a 28% increase at velocity of 2.5 m/s with TY and 118% increase at velocity of 3 m/s with TZ. Nusselt numbers increased by 32% with TY and by 157.9% with TZ compared to the plain pipe condition. Therefore, TZ turbulator with a simple structure can significantly enhance the heat transfer performance of double-pipe heat exchangers, making it an ideal option for use in these exchangers.