Numerical Investigation On Fluid Flow of Protruding Branching Duct in a Dividing Junction of a Minichannel Heat Exchanger

Abstract

This study focuses on investigating the effect of protruding branching duct on laminar fluid field in 90◦ dividing pipe junction of mini heat exchanger. The ducts under study, main and branch side, are of minichannel scale where the corresponding diameters are 3.96 and 1.6 mm respectively. First, numerical validations are given based on the experimental measurements of Cho et al. [1] for the case of non-protruding branching duct (h=0, β ≠0) and also comparing with Poiseuille flow for nonprotruding case with no flow in the branch side (h=0, β=0) where good agreements were found in each case. Second, the degree of protrusion in pipe branching duct is characterized studying and analyzing two cases of protrusions (h = D₁/4 and h = D₁/2). The effects of branching flow rate ratio β on local pressure changes and the velocity profile are presented and examined in both main and branching ducts. Finally, the influence of the extent of protruded branch on velocity field and the local pressure drop are documented as expected. The results shown a strong effect of protrusion on hydrodynamic flow.

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