Experimental Investigation on Heat Transfer Enhancement from a Channel Mounted with Staggered Blocks

The present work experimentally investigates heat transfer enhancement from a channel mounted with staggered blocks. The effect of the geometrical parameters, such as the square and circular shapes of the blocks and the ratio of the centre to centre spacing between the blocks (Lx/Ly ratio) along the stream-wise direction and transverse direction of flow, has been investigated. Experiments were conducted using the newly developed experimental setup for Reynolds number ranging from 100 to 500 based on the hydraulic diameter and the average velocity of flow through the channel. The heat input values varied from 100 to 300 W with a step of 50 W, and water was used as working fluid. The results suggest that the variation of the Reynolds number significantly influenced the heat transfer enhancement compared with other geometrical parameters. The square- shaped block imposed greater impact on the heat transfer than the circular blocks. An increase in the heat transfer was observed while increasing the Lx/Ly ratios from 1.5 to 2.5 for the square blocks, whereas it was reduced for the circular blocks.