The use of computational fluid dynamics in analysing the performance of an elliptical annular fin

The Elliptical Annular Fin (EAF) circumscribing circular tube could be a good choice where the space is restricted to one direction and enough space is present in perpendicular direction or one side for material saving. This paper presents the performance of the EAF circumscribing circular tube. In this work fins with constant base temperature by free, forced convection and with heat dissipation from the fin to the surroundings have been considered. The performance of the EAF is evaluated from the surface temperature. The Shaped Tube Efficiency (STE) and Fin Effectiveness (FE) with respect to Biot number are calculated using surface temperature. The result shows that STE and FE decrease with increase in Biot number. With the same parameter of the experimental setup, the surface temperature, STE, and FE are analyzed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The surface temperature is calculated by experimental method, and CFD analysis is predicted with a maximum deviation of 0.4% and R-2 values were 99.6%. For STE and FE, the average deviation between the present computations and the experimental computations was observed to be less than 1.8% and 2%-it is an acceptable range. Based on the above results, the thermodynamic model has been developed. (C) 2013 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.