Correlation for turbulent convection heat transfer in elliptical tubes by numerical simulations

Abstract

Turbulent convective heat transfer in an elliptical pipe are investigated numerically in this paper. The RSM model is employed in the simulations of elliptical tubes with different aspect ratio a/b and Reynolds numbers within the range of 10,000~120,000. It is found that the maximum deviation between the numerical result and the one from Dittus-Boelter equation contained a hydraulic diameter is 28.4%. Based on simulation results, the correlation between the Nusselt number and Reynolds number in the fully developed fluid section of the elliptical tube is obtained.