Heat transfer characteristics of spirally-coiled circular fin-tube heat exchangers operating under frosting conditions

The objective of this study is to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of spirally-coiled circular fin-tube heat exchangers under frosting conditions. The heat transfer rate, pressure drop, frost thickness, and Nusselt number of the heat exchanger were measured and analyzed by varying the fin pitch and number of tube rows under frosting conditions. In addition, the Nusselt number of the spirally-coiled circular fin-tube exchanger was compared with those of flat plate fin-tube heat exchangers with discrete fins. An empirical correlation of the Nusselt number was developed as a function of the Reynolds number, dimensionless fin pitch normalized by the hydraulic diameter, i.e., Dh/Fp, Fourier number, and number of tube rows. The measured Nusselt number was consistent with the predicted value with mean and average deviations of 3.5% and 0.3%, respectively.