Thermal Performance and Exergy Analysis for Conical Fins with Rift

Abstract

This experimental research study has been conducted to analyze the second law and thermal performance of conical fins with rift. There are studies in the literature examining the effect of traditional circular fins and conical fins on heat transfer. However, there are no studies in the literature examining the methods for increasing the thermal performance of conical fins. This experimental study was conducted for the purpose of making up this deficiency. Besides the examination of thermal performance of the conical fins with rift, exergy analysis has also been carried out. That is, the study has been made more comprehensive. In addition to riftless conical fins, the experiments were carried out by using the fins with a rift spacing of 1.5 and 3.5 mm so that the boundary layer separation mechanism can be accelerated according to riftless conical fins. Experimental results for eight different velocities of air flow (2–20 m/s) have been presented. In the present study, experimental research was conducted on conical fins with and without rift at different inclination angles (45°, 60° and 80°). Thus, the inclination angle at which the conical fin with rift is better than the riftless conical fin has been determined in terms of thermal performance and exergy analysis. It has been found that the conical fin with rift at 60° inclination angle is better in terms of both thermal performance and the second law of efficiency, when compared with the riftless conical fin. These results for r= 1.5 mm at ?= 60° encourage the use of conical fins with rift compared to traditional circular fins in literature. © 2018, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.