APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING, cilt.159, 2019 (SCI-Expanded)
In this particular work, the flat tube with mini-channel compact heat exchangers with offset strip fins by non-uniform uninterrupted fin length are investigated experimentally. The tests are performed by four different types of flat tube compact heat exchangers. The tests are conducted in the range of 600 < Re-a < 2000, while water as the heat transfer fluid is circulated at the inlet of the heat exchanger and regulated by a water bath at a temperature of 42 degrees C. The performance of the heat exchangers is assessed by using Colburn j-factor, friction factor f, area goodness factor j/f and volume goodness factor j/f(1/3). According to the obtained outcomes, the compact heat exchanger with bigger pass number provides better heat transfer. Two different types of strip fins with non-uniform uninterrupted fin length have been tested. The heat exchanger group with 1.55 m length of flat tube shows almost 40% higher performance than the heat exchanger group with 1.20 m length of flat tube.