CFD study of heat transfer in power‐law fluids over multiple corrugated circular cylinders in a heat exchanger

Abstract The heat transfer in power‐law fluids across three corrugated circular cylinders placed in a triangular pitch arrangement is studied computationally in a confined channel. Continuity, momentum, and energy balance equations were solved using ANSYS FLUENT (Version 18.0). The flow is assumed to be steady, incompressible, two‐dimensional, and laminar. A square domain of side 300 D h is selected after a detailed domain study. An optimized grid with 98,187 cells is used in the study. The convergence criteria of 10 −7 for the continuity, x ‐momentum, and y ‐momentum balances and 10 −12 for the energy equation were used. Constant density and non‐Newtonian power‐law viscosity modules were used. The diffusive term is discretized using a central difference scheme. Convective terms are discretized using the Second‐Order Upwind scheme. Pressure–velocity coupling between continuity and momentum equations was implemented using the semi‐implicit method for pressure‐linked equation scheme. Streamlines show wake development behind the cylinders, which is very dominant at large Re N and n . Isotherm contours are cramped at higher values of Re N and Pr N , implying higher heat transfer. Global parameters, like, C d and Nu , are computed for the wide ranges of controlling dimensionless parameters, such as power‐law index (0.3 ≤ n ≤ 1.5), Reynolds (0.1 ≤ Re N ≤ 40), and Prandtl (0.72 ≤ Pr N ≤ 500) numbers. The Nu Local plot attains a pitch near the corrugation of the surface due to abrupt changes in velocity and temperature gradients. Nu increases with Re N and/or Pr N and decreases with n under ot herwise identical situations. Nu is correlated with pertinent parameters, namely, Re N , Pr N , and n .