TY - JOUR
TI - Effect of the size of graded baffles on the performance of channel heat exchangers
AU - Sahel Djamel
AU - Ameur Houari
AU - Touhami Baki
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2020
VL - 24
IS - 2
SP - 767
EP - 775
PT - Article
AB - The baffling technique is well-known for its efficiency in terms of  enhancement of heat transfer rates throught channels. However, the baffles  insert is accompanied by an increase in the friction factor. This issue  remains a great challenge for the designers of heat exchangers. To overcome  this issue, we suggest in the present paper a new design of baffles which is  here called graded baffle-design. The baffles have an up- or down- graded  height along the channel length. This geometry is characterized by two  ratios: up-graded baffle ratio and down-graded baffle ratio which are varied  from 0 to 0.08. For a range of Reynolds number varying from 104 to 2x104,  the turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics of a heat exchanger  channel are numerically studied by the computer code Fluent. The obtained  results revealed an enhancement in the thermo-hydraulic performance offered  by the new suggested design. For the channel with a down-graded baffle ratio  equal to 0.08, the friction factors decreased by 4-8%.