Heat and Mass Flow Characterization of Highly Viscous Fluid in Narrow-Channel Heat Exchanger

Channel diameter is one of the most important parameters of a heat exchanger especially for a highly viscous fluid-flow. Narrow channel heat exchangers are believed to have better energy efficiency due to elevated heat transfer characteristics. Heat transfer and Fluid-flow behaviors of Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) have been experimentally investigated in a closed loop integrated thermal wind tunnel test facility using wavy finned Minichannel Heat Exchanger (MICHX). The experiment was conducted by varying the ATF Reynolds number from 3 to 30. The flow friction factors in minichannel were evaluated. For a fully developed laminar flow the friction factors were evaluated considering fluid viscosity effects due to temperature variation. The flow correlated with a Poiseuille equation while friction factors were analyzed considering constant property ratio. However, it showed different correlation when considered variable property ratio. A numerical analysis on friction factor for single serpentine MICHX did not follow the Poiseulle law for both cases of constant property ratio and variable property ratio. The analysis showed significantly higher fRe values. The friction factor demonstrated strong dependency on log mean temperature difference, Reynolds number, and capacity rate ratio as expected.