Effect of Pin Diameter Degressive Gradient on Heat Transfer in a Microreactor with Non-Uniform Pin-Fin Array under Low Reynolds Number Conditions

Miao Qian, Jie Li, Zhong Xiang, Chao Yan and Xudong Hu
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Miao Qian: Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Modern Textile Machinery, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Jie Li: Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Modern Textile Machinery, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Zhong Xiang: Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Modern Textile Machinery, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Chao Yan: Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Modern Textile Machinery, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Xudong Hu: Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Modern Textile Machinery, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: To improve the efficiency of hydrogen-producing microreactors with non-uniform pin-fin array, the influence of the pin diameter degressive gradient of the non-uniform pin-fin array (NPFA) on heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics is analyzed in this study via numerical simulation under low Reynolds number conditions. Because correlations in prior studies cannot be used to predict the Nusselt number and pressure drop in the NPFA, new heat transfer and friction factor correlations are developed in this paper to account for the effect of the pin diameter degressive gradient, providing a method for the optimized design of the pin diameter degressive gradient for a microreactor with NPFA. The results show that the Nusselt number and friction factor under a low Reynolds number are quite sensitive to the pin diameter degressive gradient. Based on the new correlations, the exponents of the pin diameter degressive gradient for the friction factor and Nusselt number were 6.9 and 2.1, respectively, indicating the significant influence of the pin diameter degressive gradient on the thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics in the NPFA structure.

Keywords: heat transfer; pin diameter degressive gradient; pin-fin; low Reynolds number; single phase (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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