ABSTRACT Compact heat exchangers are critical components in various industries, including cooling air conditioning devices, automotive, aerospace, enabling efficient heat transfer between fluids or between fluids and solids. This study investigates the influence of fin angles (0°, 30°, 60°, and 90°) on the performance of compact heat exchangers. A combined 3D‐CFD simulation and experimental analysis approach was used under a constant airflow rate of 0.05 kg/s and an inlet temperature of 294 K. Both the numerical simulations and experimental tests showed that a 60° louvered fin angle delivered the best heat transfer performance. Numerically, we found an average heat transfer coefficient of about 28.964 W/m²·K for the front side and 27.978 W/m²·K for the back side. The experimental results closely matched this, with the maximum average heat transfer coefficient reaching 28.4 W/m²·K for the front side and 26.6 W/m²·K for the back side on fin 2. The highest heat transfer coefficient values were detected on fin surfaces directly exposed to the airflow, while the backside surfaces presented notably lower heat transfer coefficients. The percentage differences for numerical and experimental results for the front side and back side are 1.98% and 5.18%. These findings underscore the importance of fin orientation in maximizing heat exchanger efficiency. This analysis provides a detailed look at heat transfer on both the front and back surfaces of the fins, offering insights that were not available in previous studies.
Shyaa et al. (2025) studied this question.