Table of Contents

1.1 Introduction.................................................................................................2

1.2 Literature Review........................................................................................2

1.3 Problem Statement.....................................................................................3

1.4 Design and Simulation...............................................................................3

1.5 Physical Model/Geometry..........................................................................3

1.6 Mathematical Model...................................................................................4

1.7 Boundary conditions...................................................................................4

1.8 Governing Equations..................................................................................5

1.9 Numerical Solution.....................................................................................6

1.10 Geometry and Mesh generation.............................................................6

1.11 Computational Scheme...........................................................................6

1.12 Results and discussions.........................................................................6

1.13 Conclusions.............................................................................................7

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Figure 1 Schematic of Helical coil pipe along with dimensions..............................5

Figure 2 Inlet boundary condition for helical pipe flow...........................................7

Figure 3 pressure outlet boundary condition..........................................................7

Figure 4 Meshing of helical coil geometry..............................................................9

Figure 5 Inlet of helical coil geometry...................................................................10

Figure 6 Outlet of helical coil geometry................................................................10

Figure 7 wall of helical coil geometry....................................................................11

Figure 8 SIMPLE scheme for simulation of helical pipe.......................................12

Figure 9 Residual monitors criterion.....................................................................12

Figure 10 pressure contours for helical pipe flow.................................................14

Figure 11 Velocity contours for helical pipe flow..................................................14

Figure 12 Flow streamlines for helical pipe flow...................................................15

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Introduction

It has been proved through various numerical and experimental techniques that helical
coiled pipes offer more heat transfer rate as compared to conventional straight pipe heat
exchangers. They also provide a higher heat transfer coefficient and compact geometry. They
are used extensively in mechanical, chemical, petroleum and other industries and found various
industrial applications such as refrigeration, heat recovery, power generation and nuclear
industry. In islanded nuclear systems helical coils may be used to move residual heat from the
system. Desalination plants which desalinate the sea water and employs nuclear energy for
such purpose also use helical coil heat exchangers.

1.1 Literature Review

Liu et. al [1] studied the pressure reduction in helical pipes with constant circular cross-
section in laminar flow region with finite pitch. Experiments showed that Dean number
contributes a lot in determining the fluid flow characteristics. They also determined the
correlation between Dean number and Reynolds number. Yildiz et al.[2] calculated the
differences in pressure drop and heat transfer rates between stationary and rotating helical
pipes. They proved that with very low pumping power, rotating helical coils can increase the rate
of heat transfer. This is because of the fact that increasing centrifugal forces increases
secondary fluid flow which in turn increases heat transfer. Tang et al.[3] studied the fluid flow
characteristics and pressure loss mechanism in helical pipes for larger Dean numbers. Certain
parameters like coil pitch and radius of curvature of the helical pipe was also varied and its
effects on velocity and pressure distribution were studied. They analyzed that secondary flow is
the major factor for flow loss. Tang et al.[4] in another study showed that the random streamline
profile of the secondary vortices and greater deflection angles of the secondary vortices are a
big contributing factor in lowering the pressure of the fluid flow. Borse et. al [5] reviewed the
heat transfer efficiency through a helical coil heat exchanger and opined that due to secondary
flow characteristics in a helical flow pipe the friction factor increases as the liquid passes
through the coil and thus the heat transfer increases. Dravid et al [6] opined that helical coli
tubes have centrifugal forces which generate secondary flow which leads to increase in the
friction factor and heat transfer. The secondary flow developed is a function of diameter of tube
and coil diameter. Jaivin et. al [7] experimentally proved that effectiveness of helical coil heat
exchanger is higher than that of straight tube heat exchanger. Chinna et al.[8] researched on

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different ways to increase the heat transfer effectiveness for coiled heat exchangers. They also
worked on the number of coils and flow rate of the helical coil heat exchanger and its effect on
the heat transfer rate. Chaves et. al [9] studied the helical coil pipes and concluded that the
centrifugal forces arises in helical coils because of the curves shape of the tube. The radius of
curvature of the coil and axial velocity of the fluid flow are the factors which contributes towards
the magnitude of the centrifugal force. The velocity of the fluid is higher at the center while it
decreases as it progresses towards the wall. Jung-Yang San et al. [10] studied helical coil heat
exchanger and concluded that the purpose of the coil curvature is to suppress the turbulence
produced by the flowing fluid in the tubes. With the increase in coil ratio, more turbulence
suppression occurs. Wen et al. [11] researched on helical coil tubing and concluded that as
compared to straight pipes, helical pipes considerably reduce the fouling characteristics of the
pipe. It also reduces the maintenance and regular schedule cleaning of the tubes. Kharat et. al
[12] studied parallel and counter flow in both straight tubes and helical coil and concluded that
helical coil counter flow heat exchanger provides for the most efficient heat transfer. Also, the
heat transfer increases with increase in hot water mass flow rate and cold-water mass flow rate.

1.2 Problem Statement

We studied the fluid flow characteristics through a helical coiled pipe. The fluid velocity is
set to be 12 m/s, also the density and dynamic viscosity are ______ & ______ so that the
operating Reynolds number is in laminar flow with the value of _________.

Design and Simulation

1.3 Physical Model/Geometry

The first step regarding the simulation was constructing a 3D model of the helical pipe.
This purpose was accomplished using Solid works 2019 in which we developed a physical
model of helical pipe with appropriate dimensions as mentioned in Figure 1. The fluid enters the
pipe from the bottom and leaves the pipe from the top, with inner dia. of the helical pipe is
greater than the outer dia. The outer and inner dia. of the pipe is also inclined at an angle with
the horizonal. When the coil is given N number of turns then distance from one end of the coil,
passing from the center to the other opposite end is called coil diameter. The coil diameter is
also referred to as pitch circle diameter (PCD). Curvature ratio (δ) is defined as the ratio of the

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pipe diameter to coil diameter. Non-dimensional pitch (λ) is defined as the ratio of pitch to the
length of one turn of the helical coil.
do = outer dia. of the pipe.
di = inner dia. of the pipe.
De = Coil diameter.
N = number of turns of the coil.
p = pitch of the coil.
H = height of the coil.

Figure 1 Schematic of Helical coil pipe along with dimensions.

Table 1 dimensions of Helical coil geometry

Parameter De do di N p H
Dimension (mm) 254 40 24.2 7 50 375
4

1.4 Mathematical Model

In order to simulate the fluid flow and heat transfer through the helical coiled pipe a
mathematical model is needed & the process of obtaining mathematical model is as under.
1.5 Boundary conditions

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 Different boundary conditions corresponding to different geometry parts of the helical
coiled pipe is given in Figure 2. The fluid enters the helical pipe from below so this opening is
named as inlet while it leaves the pipe from the top hole of the pipe so it is named as outlet. The
fluid flow and heat flux are concentrated within the pipe and doesn’t leaves the pipe so the outer
boundary of the pipe is given wall boundary condition. The boundary condition for inlet is set to
velocity-inlet and value for inlet velocity is set to 12m/s. the outer boundary of the pipe is given
wall boundary condition.

Figure 2 Inlet boundary condition for helical pipe flow

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 Figure 3 pressure outlet boundary condition.
1.6 Governing Equations
To predict the fluid flow characteristics the water fluid is allowed to enter the helical coil
pipe and after entering the pipe it takes some time to form a steady flow in the pipes. The
velocity of fluid throughout the pipe is constant. Law of conservation of mass, momentum and
energy is applied on the system as these equations are given as under;
u  0 (1)

 u 
f  u u   P   f   2u 
 t  (2)

Tf
 u Tf   f   2Tf 
t (3)

Ts
  s   2Ts 
t (4)

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 Where;

Ts = Temperature of the helical coiled pipe.

Tf = Temperature of the heat transfer fluid.

 f = Density of the heat transfer fluid.

 s = Thermal diffusivity of the heat transfer fluid.

 f = dynamic viscosity of the heat transfer fluid

u = velocity of the heat transfer fluid.

1.7 Numerical Solution

1.8 Geometry and Mesh generation
For preparation of the a 3d model of the helical coil first geometry was prepared using
SOLIDWORKS-19. The geometry was made with proper dimensions as shown in Figure 4 .The
size and shape of the geometry was also double checked before importing this structure to the
ANSYS-19 for meshing. According to the role and function which each structure has to play they
were given appropriate names which assisted in numerical solution such as outlet, inlet and
wall. Proper sizing and edge sizing of each component was performed to optimize and form a
very well refined mesh before moving onto the numerical solution.

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Figure 4 Meshing of helical coil geometry.

Figure 5 Inlet of helical coil geometry.

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 Figure 6 Outlet of helical coil geometry.

Figure 7 wall of helical coil geometry.

1.9 Computational Scheme

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 After setting the boundary conditions for different components, we also set the fluid to
water and check the corresponding properties related to density. The convergence criterion for
the residuals is set to be 10-3. In order to solve the Navier-stokes equation SIMPLE (Semi-
Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations) algorithm has been used. After that using hybrid
initialization we initialize the calculations and then run the calculations to get the results.

Figure 8 SIMPLE scheme for simulation of helical pipe.

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 Figure 9 Residual monitors criterion.

Results and discussions

It has also been proved that with the increase in diameter of the coiled pipes the
streamlines of the vortices become more random/turbulent. As the fluid progresses in the coiled
pipes or curved pipes secondary flow is observed which does not occur in straight pipes. In
order to measure the secondary flow, there is another dimensionless number called the Dean
number (De). When the fluid flow passes through the helical coil velocity profile formed is
different as compared to the straight pipes. Along with the primary flow, secondary flow of fluid
arises. Also, as the fluid moves along the coil centrifugal forces are in action along with friction
forces. There is variation in the degrees of the centrifugal force from the curved wall to the
center of the pipe. The fluid around the axis of the duct experiences higher centrifugal force as
compared to the slow-moving fluid in the neighborhood of the duct wall.
When the centrifugal forces and viscous forces interact with each other in curved portion
of the pipe, we observe vortices began to form, this characteristic flow is termed as secondary
flow. Secondary flow shifts the maximum velocity from the axis towards the wall of the pipe
which means that slowly the fluid in the central region moves towards the outer edges of the

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helical pipe and similarly fluid at the outer edges of the pipe move towards the central region.
This phenomenon gives rise to pressure drop and as the fluid moves towards the outlet this
pressure drop is even low because of the cross section of the pipe.

Figure 10 pressure contours for helical pipe flow.

Figure 11 Velocity contours for helical pipe flow.

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 Figure 12 Flow streamlines for helical pipe flow.

Conclusions

From the above discussions and results it is inferred that as the fluid moves towards the
outlet, we observed an increase in velocity and decrease in pressure of the fluid flow. The
pressure drops and higher heat transfer rate is due to the fact that as the fluid flows it develops
secondary flow and vortices. These vortices can also increase turbulence due to which higher
heat transfer occurs and that is the reason helical coil heat exchangers are preferred as
compared to straight pipe heat exchangers.

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 References

1. Liu, S., et al., An Experimental Study of Pressure Drop in Helical Pipes. Proceedings:
Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 1994. 444(1921): p. 307-316.
2. Yildiz, C., Y. Biçer, and D. Pehlivan, Heat transfers and pressure drops in rotating
helical pipes. Applied Energy, 1995. 50(1): p. 85-94.
3. Tang, L., Y. Tang, and S. Parameswaran, A numerical study of flow characteristics in a
helical pipe. Advances in Mechanical Engineering, 2016. 8.
4. Tang, L., et al., Secondary vortex-based analysis of flow characteristics and pressure
drop in helically coiled pipe. Advances in Mechanical Engineering, 2017. 9: p. 1.
5. Borse, D., A Review on Helical Coil Heat Exchanger. International Journal for Research
in Applied Science and Engineering Technology, 2018. 6: p. 492-497.
6. Dravid, A.N., et al., Effect of secondary fluid motion on laminar flow heat transfer in
helically coiled tubes. AIChE Journal, 1971. 17(5): p. 1114-1122.
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of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger. August 2015. 5(8).
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33-39.
9. Chaves, C., et al., Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation to analyze the
performance of tube-in-tube helically coiled of a heat exchanger. Scientific research and
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10. San, J.-Y., C.-H. Hsu, and S.-H. Chen, Heat transfer characteristics of a helical heat
exchanger. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2012. 39: p. 114–120.
11. Wen, J., et al., Experimental investigation on performance comparison for shell-and-tube
heat exchangers with different baffles. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer,
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12. Kharat, R., N. Bhardwaj, and R.S. Jha, Development of heat transfer coefficient
correlation for concentric helical coil heat exchanger. International Journal of Thermal
Sciences, 2009. 48: p. 2300–2308.

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