Effect of fins on forced convection heat transfer around a tube in an aligned-arranged tube bundle

The effect of fins on heat transfer around a tube in an aligned-arranged tube bundle was investigated experimentally, and the obtained results were compared for three arrangements, i.e., single tube, single tube row, and staggered-arrangement. It was found from the experiment that the effect of fins begins to appear in an aligned-arrangement with larger fin spacing than in a staggered-arrangement. The degradation in the local heat transfer coefficient due to fins can be recognized not only on the rear region of the tube, as observed in other arrangements, but also on the frontal region. As a result of this phenomenon, the degradation in the average heat transfer coefficient in an aligned-arrangement becomes larger than in other arrangements with the same fin spacing. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 34(8): 555–563, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.20091