Louvered Fin Heat Exchanger : Optimal Design and Numerical Investigation of Heat and Flow Characteristics

Abstract

his paper presents a numerical optimization of louvered fins to enhance the JF factor in terms of the design parameters, including the fin pitch, the number of louvers, the louver angle, the fin thickness, and the re-direction louver length. We carried out a parametric study to select the three most important parameters affecting the JF factor, which were the fin pitch, number of louvers, and the louver angle. We optimally designed the louvered fin by using 3rd-order full factorial design, the kriging method, and a micro genetic algorithm. Consequently, the JF factor of the optimum model increased by 16% compared to that of the base model. Moreover, the optimum model reduced the pressure drop by 17% with a comparable heat transfer rate.