Heat transfer analysis on dimple geometries and arrangements in dimple jacketed heat exchanger

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of dimple geometries and arrangements on the heat transfer enhancement in a dimple jacketed heat exchanger. Design/methodology/approach For the purpose of this paper, with the experimental validated numerical model, this paper carries out numerical simulations of both single dimples with different geometries and the whole dimple jacketed heat exchanger with different dimple arrangements. For a single dimple, its secondary vortex flow, temperature differences and the pressure drop performance for different geometries are analyzed. For the whole dimple jacketed heat exchanger, the heat transfer and pressure drop performances are investigated by comparing the no dimple, triangular and rectangular dimple arrangements. Findings Results show that dimples can improve the heat transfer efficiency compared with conventional jacketed heat exchanger, and specific geometries and arrangement of dimples for better heat transfer performance are figured out. Originality/value This paper considers both dimple geometries and arrangements, which can be useful for further applications in specific integrated devices or similar applications.