Heat Transfer during Annular Tube Contact in a Helically Coiled Tube-in-Tube Heat Exchanger

Abstract Helically wound tube-in-tube heat exchangers are manufactured by coiling two tubes, one placed inside the other. This method often results in the tubes not sharing the same center line, and therefore annular contact occurs in some cases. An experimental comparison was made of such tubes in a heat exchanger with annular contact, as opposed to an aligned (concentric) device without annular contact, in order to quantify the effect of annular contact in terms of heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop. By comparing the heat transfer characteristics, it was concluded that the heat transfer coefficient in the annulus was found to increase substantially. The result was an improved performance by the heat exchanger where annular contact occurs, compared to the heat exchanger with the inner tube in a concentric position.