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Dhruv Raj Karana
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology (BHU),
Varanasi 221005, India
e-mail: dhruvrajkarana.rs.mec17@itbhu.ac.in
Rashmi Rekha Sahoo1
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology (BHU),
Varanasi 221005, India
e-mail: rrsahoo.mec@itbhu.ac.in
Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop
Investigations of the Compact
Exhaust Heat Exchanger With
Twisted Tape Inserts for
Automotive Waste Heat
Utilization
Thermoelectric-based waste heat recovery is a competent technique to reduce the exhaust
emissions and fuel consumption of automobiles. Thermal and hydraulic characteristics of
the exhaust heat exchanger plays a decisive role in the extent of waste heat recovery
from the exhaust gas. In this study, the exhaust heat exchanger having twisted tape
inserts is proposed to increase the internal heat transfer coefficient. The dimensionless
Nusselt number and friction factor were evaluated experimentally for different designs of
the twisted tapes. The experiments were performed for the Reynolds number in the range
2300–25000. The considered geometric parameters of the twisted rib explored were the
pitch fraction, twist fraction, and slope. The obtained results were compared to reveal
the best feasible design of the twisted tape. The maximum net thermohydraulic efficiency
factor achieved for the system in the present analysis is 1.93. With the use of twisted
tapes, the area of the exhaust heat exchanger can be greatly reduced for the same power
output as flat geometry. This would help for the integration of the waste heat recovery
with the engine, where the space available is very limited. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4048672]

Keywords: thermal performance, heat exchanger, thermoelectric generators, twisted tape

inserts, energy efficiency, forced convection, heat exchangers, heat recovery

1 Introduction chamber called exhaust heat exchanger (EHX). Recently, there is

a gradual increase in power output produced using TGs. Quan
A large portion of the global population relies on internal com-
et al. [4] successfully produced maximum of 646.26 W power was
bustion engines (ICE) for power and electricity. Even though they
produced from the exhaust of a military SUV. The maximum con-
are a reliable source of power, they suffer from serious demerits
version efficiency achieved was 1.06% with the use of Bi2Te3-based
like low efficiency and harmful emissions. The sector, like transpor-
TGs. Lan et al. [5] developed a dynamic model of the TG system for
tation, which is greatly dependent on ICE, has been identified as one
heavy-duty trucks. The thermal contact conductance and heat trans-
of the major sources of air pollution [1]. Rigid emission norms and
fer coefficients were optimized to produce 20% more power out-
higher cost of fuel is rapidly depleting their economic feasibility.
put. Although a large amount of research is being done in the
Increasing the existing efficiency of the engine can be a practical
field of TG, their practical use is limited to laboratory scale. The
solution to this issue. In a typical ICE, only 35% of energy is con-
primary reason is their low conversion efficiency and initial cost.
verted to useful work. Rest is wasted as heat to the environment.
Thus, the progress should be made in this direction to make thermo-
Waste heat recovery (WHR) is a practical technique to improve
electric-based WHR feasible.
the efficiency with minimum changes to the current system. The
EHX is an important constituent of the thermoelectric-based
exhaust gas in ICE is in the range of 400–600 °C or higher. Thus,
WHR system. It acts as the channel for exchanging heat between
it would provide maximum availability for the WHR system to
the TG and exhaust gas. A number of studies have been done dis-
function and reduce weight and emissions.
cussing its important parameters like configuration and heat transfer
WHR of exhaust gas can be harnessed with a variety of techni-
characteristics of EHX. Meng et al. [6] optimized the dimensions
ques like the use of organic Rankine cycle [2] and electric turbogen-
and TGs spacing for maximum power with minimum TGs.
erator [3]. Recently, the use of thermoelectric generators (TG) is
Mostafvi Mahmoudi [7] advocated the use of heat sinks to obtain
gaining attention due to a number of advantages. Extended
higher heat transfer at the hot side. Lesage et al. [8] highlighted
service period, absence of moving parts, and simplicity are, to
the importance of providing inserts in enhancing the performance
name a few. These advantages have motivated the researchers to
of TGs. Protruding insert, spiral inserts, and panel inserts were ana-
extract the waste heat using TGs with the objective of reducing
lyzed for the liquid-to-liquid heat transfer applications. Lu et al. [9]
emissions and improving fuel economy. TG is a solid-state
studied EHX equipped with metal foam and offset strip fins. It was
energy converting device that absorbs energy from the heat
shown that metal foam with small pore density and low porosity
source and rejects a fraction of this heat to a cold source. In automo-
produced more power. Moreover, the optimal fin spacing and thick-
biles, the hot source is the exhaust, which passes through the
ness were obtained for offset strip fins. Ma et al. [10] numerically
analyzed the performance of EHX with different longitudinal
1 vortex generators. The system with full height and small angle of
Corresponding author.
Manuscript received May 4, 2020; final manuscript received September 7, 2020; attack was highly effective in enhancing the power output.
published online December 29, 2020. Assoc. Editor: Dr. Gustavo Ledezma. Amaral et al. [11] experimentally investigated the effect of six

Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications AUGUST 2021, Vol. 13 / 041003-1
Copyright © 2020 by ASME

Fig. 1 Schematic view of the experimental arrangement
different flow impeding panels for improving heat transfer in waste
heat recovery. Wang et al. [12] compared the performance of EHX
with two different internal geometries, namely inserted fins and
dimpled surface. The dimple surface produced a better thermal per-
formance by producing 173.6% more output power with 20.57% less
pressure drop. In another study, Wang et al. [13] numerically com-
pared the EHX consisting of deflectors, cylindrical grooves, and
inserted fin topologies. Different channel heights of 6, 8, and
12 mm were compared, of which 8-mm channel height provided
the best balance between heat transfer and backpressure. Su et al.
[14] examined EHX with scattered fin, accordion, and fishbone
shape to achieve better performance and thermal uniformity. The
accordion-shaped structure provided the best thermal uniformity
amongst all other shapes considered. Bai et al. [15] numerically ana-
lyzed six different internal structures of the EHX, namely, pipe struc-
ture, serial plate structure, a separate plate with a hole, inclined plate,
and parallel plate structures. The maximum power output obtained
was 1737 W with serial plate structure having seven baffles. Zhu
et al. [16] enhanced the extent of automotive waste heat recovery
by 18.8% using a variable curvature spiral coil heat exchanger.
The literature surface suggests the use of surface roughness to
enhance the heat transfer performance of the heat exchanger. In
the case of EHX, only a handful of roughness is explored earlier.
Most of the studies are restricted to numerical simulation due to
the complex construction of the EHX and challenging physics of
the flow. Thus, a requirement of experimentation was felt.
Twisted tape inserts have been proved to be an effective turbulator
to increase the heat transfer coefficient in heat exchangers. In the
current study, experimental investigations of the heat transport per-
formance of EHX equipped with twisted tape inserts were per-
formed. Geometric variables of twisted tape like twist fraction,
pitch fraction, and slope have been optimized to reveal the best
combination. The improvement in heat transfer would make the
thermoelectric-based waste heat recovery competent with the
other available technologies.
2 Apparatus and Exhaust Heat Exchanger
Figure 1 shows the experiment facility used for the experiment. It
comprises mainly of an exhaust heat exchanger (EHX), centrifugal
blower, air heater, variable transformer, and a data acquisition
system. The blower feeds the air to the exhaust heat exchanger. It
has been connected to the variable transformer, which, along with
the by-pass valve, is used to maintain the required flowrate. The dis-
charge capacity of the blower is in the range of 0–0.045 kg/s. The
rate of air flow is measured by the orifice meter, and the air entering
the exhaust heat exchanger was heated by a 6-kW heater. The tem-
perature of the air has been adjusted by varying the amount of heat
supplied by the heater through a variable transformer. At last, the
heated air enters the exhaust heat exchanger (EHX).
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The exhaust gas has a very close resemblance to the air as the
air-fuel ratio of engines is very high. Thus, the air can be safely
approximated exhaust gas without much error in the experiment.
The EHX acts as a medium for exchanging heat between the
exhaust gas and TG. TGs comprises of two sides, namely, the hot
side and cold side. The heat from the exhaust gas is conducted to
EHX and transferred to the TG. The hot side of TG absorbs heat
from the surface of EHX and rejects to its cold side, in turn produc-
ing electricity. The current focus is on the heat transfer characteris-
tics of the EHX, as it directly affects the power output from TGs.
The EHX comprises of three components, namely, a converging
section, diverging section, and a rectangular channel. The rectangu-
lar part is of main interest as it provides the surface for the place-
ment of thermoelectric generators for power generation. The size
of EHX plays an important role in the waste heat recovery
process in automobiles. A small length of EHX will limit the
power produced by the thermoelectric generators, while a large
EHX will significantly increase the pumping power of the
exhaust in the engine. The dimensions of the rectangular section
in the current study are decided on the basis of recommendation
given by He et al. [17]. The breadth and the height of the EHX
were kept as 290 mm and 25 mm, respectively. The length of
EHX is decided to be 305 mm to limit the pressure drop as the
length of EHX is directly proportional to the pressure drop across
it. Once the proportions of the EHX are found, the material of con-
struction needs to be fixed. Materials like stainless steel and brass
were found to be used in the literature survey. But aluminum is
selected owing to its high thermal conductivity and the corrosion
resistance property. Two aluminum plates of thickness 3 mm each
are mated to the frame for making the rectangular passage. The rec-
tangular channel is joined with the converging and diverging
section to complete the fabrication of EHX. As the exhaust gas
flows through the EHX, it heats the aluminum plate through con-
vection, and finally, the heat is conducted to the thermoelectric gen-
erators as shown in Fig. 2.
3 Data Reduction
The heat transfer performance of EHX is analyzed by evaluating
the Nusselt number and friction factor, before and after using
twisted tape inserts. The rectangular section of the EHX is parti-
tioned into a number of control volumes as shown in Fig. 3. The
regional heat transfer coefficient for all control volume is deter-
mined by assuming one-dimensional heat transfer. Previous
studies have shown that the one-dimensional heat transfer analysis
of EHX gives satisfactory results, provided the number of control
volumes considered is adequate [18]. The discrepancy due to this
assumption is further discussed in the subsequent sections.
The rate of flow of air entering EHX is measured by orifice meter.
The difference in pressure (ΔP) caused by a given flow is recorded
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surface temperature is known with the help of Eq. (5)
T1,2 in,s − T1,2 out,s
Q= (5)
Rcond
The surface temperature (T1,2 out,s) is measured by installing the
thermocouple on the surface of EHX. Rcd is the conduction resis-
tance, which is the function of thickness, thermal conductivity,
and area of the aluminium plate. The thermal conductivity of the
aluminium plate is measured by the transient plane source
method. Mathematically [20]
tAl
Rcond = (6)
kAl A
In Eqs. (2)–(6), the only unknown is ha. Rest, all parameters are
determined experimentally. A similar procedure is adapted to deter-
Fig. 2 Cut section of the exhaust heat exchanger
mine the internal heat transfer coefficient of all other control
volumes. Once all local heat transfer coefficients are obtained,
the average internal heat transfer coefficient can be calculated by
for the line size of 1.5 in.. The coefficient of discharge and the Eq. (7)
orifice plate diameter is specified by the manufacturer of the
orifice meter. The mass flowrate is thus calculated by Eq. (1) [19] 9
ha,j















havg = 1 (7)
9
2ρ (ΔP)
ma = C d A 0 (1) The Nusselt number can thus be determined as [21]
1 − (D0 /Dp )4
havg Dh
where A0 is the area of the orifice plate and ρ is the air density. As Nu = (8)
kair
shown in Fig. 2, when the exhaust gas passes through EHX, it con-
tinuously transfers heat to the aluminium plate. The heat lost (Q) by Moreover, the pressure across the EHX is measured for all
air in the control volume can be measured by Eq. (2) [20] flowrates. The friction factor is calculated using the following
Eq. (9) [19]
Q = ma C p,a (T1,ex − T2,ex ) (2)
(2Dh )ΔP
where Cp,a is the specific heat capacity of the air. The temperature of f= 2
(9)
4ρair LVair
the air at interface 1 and 2 are determined by inserting the thermo-
couple inside EHX. Since the distance between the EHX plate is The experiments are initially conducted for smooth internal geom-
25 mm, thermocouples are inserted to a height of 12.5 mm to etry and repeated for different designs of twisted tape inserts using
measure the temperature at midway. The mean temperature of the the heat exchanger shown in Fig. 4. The width of the tape (w) should
air in the control volume is calculated by Eq. (3) be more than the thickness of the boundary layer. In the current
case, it is kept as 5 mm. Twist fraction (T/w), Pitch fraction (P/w),
(T1,ex + T2,ex ) and slope (α) are selected as roughness variables, as shown in
T1,2 avg = (3)
2 Fig. 5. The range of parameters chosen is given in Table 1.
The heat Q is transported to the aluminium plate, as indicated by the
dotted arrow in Fig. 2. Using conservation of energy principle, the
heat can be quantified by Eq. (4) [20]

Q
ha = (4)
A(T1,2 avg − T1,2 in,s )

In Eq. (4), ha is the internal heat transfer coefficient and Tin is the
inner surface temperature of the EHX. The inner temperature of the
plate is not readily measurable but can be estimated once the outer

Fig. 3 Control volume for determining heat transfer coefficient Fig. 4 Schematic of the exhaust heat exchanger

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ex − 100)
Nu = 0.0214(Re0.8
(10)
ex [1 + (Df /L)
Pr0.8 ](Ta /Tout,s )
2/3

While the correlation for the friction factor used is given by Eq. (11),

fr = 0.0791/Re0.25
ex for 2000 < Reex
(11)
≤ 59.7/(2Hrf /Df )8/7

The results obtained are plotted in Fig. 6. Though certain deviations

are present in the experimental values of the study, they are well within
the tolerable range. The discrepancy observed might be due to certain
assumptions that are necessary for quantifying the heat transfer coeffi-
cient. The method for obtaining the internal heat transfer coefficient
was 1D heat transfer, but in actual practice, heat transfer may occur
in other coordinates also. To maintain the accuracy of the experiments,
the number of control volume was increased. At first, six units were
used to calculate the heat transfer coefficient. Later, the number of
units was increased. The difference in the average heat transfer coeffi-
Fig. 5 Flow pattern and geometric variables examined in the cient between 9 and 12 units was very nominal. Thus, to reduce the
study experimental burden, the experiments were performed with 9 units
for an acceptable level of accuracy. Also, it was assumed that the
mass flowrate of the air in the EHX is uniform. Though deflectors
were provided inside EHX (Fig. 2) to maintain the uniformity, this
Table 1 Range of roughness variables used in the study cannot be entirely guaranteed. Figure 7 shows the individual heat trans-
fer coefficients obtained at Re = 13483. The middle row has the largest
Parameter Symbol Range value of heat transfer coefficients as the incoming air has the momen-
tum to flow straight in the channel. The upper and bottom row shows a
Reynolds number Re 2300–25000 marginal drop in the local heat transfer coefficient primarily because of
Twist fraction T/w 4–8 the low mass flowrate of the air at the edges of the EHX. Also, the tem-
Pitch fraction P/w 6–10
perature of the air upstream is very large compared to the temperature
Slope Α 30–90 deg
downstream. This results in a significant drop in the heat transfer coef-
ficient in the streamwise direction. Thus, the average heat transfer coef-
ficient is a better representation of the heat transfer phenomenon inside
4 Experimental Validation and Uncertainty EHX. Various uncertainties involved in the calculation of variables are
shown in Table 2. The total uncertainty in parameter F, because the
The motive of this study is to investigate and enhance the practi- individual contribution of n variables is given by Eq. (12) [23]
cal performance of the EHX. Initially, the experiments are per-
formed for the flat inner geometry of the EHX. To validate the  0.5
n
δF
results, the Nusselt number and the friction factor obtained were δF = ± ∂xi (12)
plotted against the correlation given in the study [22] for smooth i=1
δxi
inner geometry. The correlation for the Nusselt number used is
given by Eq. (10) The accuracy of the equipment used is stated in Table 3.

Fig. 6 Experimental data validation

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Fig. 7 Experimental result of heat transfer coefficients obtained
at Re = 13483

Table 2 Uncertainty involved with the measured parameters

Parameter Uncertainty (%)

Fig. 8 Enhancement of Nusselt number for various twist
Area 0.109 fractions
Density of air 0.973
Hydraulic diameter (Dh) 0.16
Mass flowrate of air (ma) 1.72
Reynolds number (Re) 2.27 length in contact with the flow is less, resulting in the formation of
Nusselt number (Nu) 4.69 jets. The release of secondary stream jets into the primary stream is
Heat transfer coefficient (ha) 4.66 high. The valley between the twisted tape causes the elimination of
Heat transfer rate (Q) 4.48 wake zone and reduction in downstream eddies. Consequently,
Friction factor ( f ) 4.10
higher turbulence and higher heat transfer are realized. At higher
twist fractions (T/w = 8), the number of valleys is reduced,
which limits the number of jets formed. Moreover, the length of
5 Results and Discussions twisted tape in contact with the flow is increased, which
weakens the mixing strength of the flow lowering the chances of
The thermal characteristic of the new EHX proposed is assessed
jet formation.
by the ratio of Nusselt number after and before the use of twisted
Figure 9 shows the ratio of friction factor for rough and smooth
tape inserts. Similarly, the pressure drops for distinct geometry of
internal geometries. The ratio is much higher than one signifying
twisted tape are analyzed by the ratio friction factors. The combined
that the pressure drop with twisted tape inserts is significantly
effect of both the enhancement in heat transfers and pressure drop is
amplified compared to smooth inner geometry. This is because of
analyzed using the net thermal-hydraulic efficiency. Lastly, the
the increase in fluid friction caused by the introduction of twisted
practical application for better heat transfer is discussed.
tape inserts. The use of multiple twisted tapes increases the resis-
tance to flow of the air stream, thereby increasing the pressure
5.1 Heat Transfer and Hydraulic Performance drop. The maximum enhancement in friction factor is observed at
T/w = 8. The reason is that at higher twist fractions, the total
5.1.1 Enhancement by the Change in Twist Fraction (T/w).
number of spaces between the twisted tapes is less, which mini-
Enhancement in the Nusselt number obtained by the change of mizes the passage points of the air stream. Also, at the T/w = 8,
twist fraction has been depicted in Fig. 8. The ratio of Nusselt
the contact length between the stream and the tape is high, which
number is greater than one for the entire flow range. This implies increases the fluid friction. At lower twist fractions, the number
that the twisted tape inserts raise the internal heat transfer in EHX of passages for the air stream is high, leading to lower pressure
by inducing turbulence. The enhancement is initially high for low
drop and hence lower friction factor.
Reynolds number, and later, the change is very less for higher Rey-
nolds number. The reason lies in the mechanism of the boundary
layer. At lower Reynolds number, the thickness of the boundary
layer is small. The introduction of twisted tape inserts helps in the
destruction of the boundary layer, promoting heat transfer. The
hot air stream is divided on interacting with the twisted tape
inserts. The primary stream passes through the space between
twisted tape. The secondary stream flows over the tape. The two
streams disintegrate and recombine all along the length of the
EHX. This increases the turbulence causing a high heat transfer
rate inside EHX. For the given flow domain, the maximum incre-
ment in the Nusselt number is noticed at T/w = 4, while the
minimum increment is at T/w = 8. This phenomenon can be justified
as follows. At T/w = 4, the space between the rib is minimum. The

Table 3 Accuracy of the used instruments

Parameter Accuracy

Temperature ±0.1 °C (K-type thermocouple)

Thermal conductivity ±0.02 W/mK
Pressure ±0.03 hPa
Fig. 9 Enhancement of friction factor for various twist fractions

Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications AUGUST 2021, Vol. 13 / 041003-5

Fig. 10 Enhancement of Nusselt number for various pitch
fractions
Fig. 11 Formation of reattachment site
5.1.2 Enhancement by the Change in Pitch Fraction (P/w). The
enhancement in the Nusselt number for different pitch fractions has
been indicated in Fig. 10. The Nusselt number ratio initially
increases till P/w = 8 and later declines on a further increase of
pitch fraction. The explanation of this can be as follows. The
pitch fraction indicates the space between two consecutive twisted
Fig. 12 Enhancement of friction factor for various pitch
fractions
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Fig. 13 Enhancement of Nusselt number for various slopes
tapes. At first, when the pitch fraction is less, the spacing between
the twisted tape is small. The stream is not able to penetrate the
inserts and form the point of reattachment, as shown in Fig. 11.
At P/w = 8, the spacing between the twisted tapes is such that the
formation of the reattachment point is facilitated. The free shear
layer separates from the twisted tape and attaches beneath the
twisted tape. Maximum turbulence intensity occurs at the point if
reattachment leading to the highest heat transport rate. When the
pitch fraction is further raised, the space between the inserts
increases beyond the critical limit. The number of rows of twisted
tape inserts declines for a fixed length of EHX. Consequently, the
points for reattachment are reduced, leading to a lower heat transfer
rate.
The friction factor ratios for different pitch fractions are shown in
Fig. 12. The minimum pitch fraction (P/w = 6) results in the highest
friction factor ratio because low pitch fraction signifies that the dis-
tance between two consecutive twisted tapes is less, and thus, the
number of twisted tapes placed in the EHX of fixed length is
high. More twisted tapes would induce large flow resistance to
the stream leading to a high friction factor. On the other hand,
high pitch fraction would increase the inter tape distance, causing
a lower number of tapes accommodated in the EHX. Less twisted
tape inserts would offer low flow resistance and hence low friction
factor ratio.
5.1.3 Enhancement by the Change in Slope (α). The slope of
the twisted tape inserts also plays a decisive role in enhancing
Fig. 14 Enhancement of friction for various slopes
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Fig. 15 Net thermal-hydraulic efficiency for various twist Fig. 17 Net thermal-hydraulic efficiency for various slopes
fractions

measure to gauge the overall effectiveness of the heat transfer

heat transfer inside EHX, as shown in Fig. 13. The slope of the enhancement. The net thermal-hydraulic efficiency (η) is calculated
twisted tapes helps in flow separation. When the air stream interacts by Eq. (13) [21]
with the inclined twisted tape inserts, it induces a swirl in the flow,

 1/3 
generating vortices. Large-scale movement of bulk fluid takes place
due to vortex formation. The maximum enhancement is seen for
α = 60 deg. This can be explained as follows: Initially, when the
slope is small, the secondary flows generated are weak. This
limits the increase in heat transfer as weak flows are not sufficient
in large-scale mixing of the bulk fluid. At α = 60 deg, the secondary
flows have the highest strength, which promotes vortex formation
leading to maximum turbulence intensity. On the further increase
of slope, destructive interference takes place between the primary
and secondary flows leading to loss of turbulence activity. Thus,
a lower heat transfer rate has been observed.
The effect of slope on the friction factor ratio has been shown in
Fig. 14. The friction factor ratio increases with the increase of slope.
The reason is that the slope helps in the division of flow. With a
smaller value of the slope, the secondary flow formation is pro-
moted. When the slope is increased, destructive interference takes
place between the primary and secondary flow leading to pressure
losses. Consequently, higher friction factors are obtained.
5.1.4 Net Thermal-Hydraulic Efficiency (η). In applications of
heat transfer augmentation, the thermal and hydraulic performances
are contradictory. The net thermal-hydraulic efficiency is a suitable
Fig. 16 Net thermal-hydraulic efficiency for various pitch
fractions
Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications
Nu f
η= (13)
Nuo fo
η > 1 is favorable as it denotes that the heat transfer enhancement
dominates the pressure drop generated in the process. η < 1 is unfa-
vorable, and geometry causing it should be skipped. The net
thermal-hydraulic efficiency (η) for distinct geometries is shown
in Figs. 15–17. Initially, the value of η is large, and as the Reynolds
number increases, then decreases, and attains a uniform value. The
reason for this lies in the formation of the boundary layer. At lower
Reynolds number, the thickness of the boundary layer is high. The
twisted tape inserts rupture the boundary layer leading to a high heat
transfer rate. When the Reynolds number is high, the boundary
layer thickness is reduced. Thus, the scope of improvement in
heat transfer is low. The use of twisted tape inserts is still suggested
as η > 1 for almost all the cases. The optimum specification of the
tape is realized at the twist fraction of 4, pitch fraction of 8, and
slope as 60 deg. At this configuration, the η attains a maximum
value (1.93) at Re = 2319 in the given flow range.
5.2 Application. The above analysis exhibits that the use of
twisted tape inserts has significantly improved the performance of
the EHX. In this section, the application of improved performance
is discussed. The improvement in heat transfer will definitely
increase the power output of the TGs used. Hence, for the same
power output as that of conventional EHX, the size of EHX with
twisted inserts can be greatly reduced. This would make the novel
EHX compact and allow easy mounting on the automobiles.
Fig. 18 Control volume for performance analysis
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The one-dimensional model of the heat transfer process is discussed
to demonstrate this phenomenon. The compact nature of EHX
would reduce the weight on the vehicle and lead to significant
savings in fuel and emissions.
The one-dimensional heat transfer model in the case of TGs has
been efficient in studying the heat transfer process [24]. The model
is described in Fig. 18. Thermoelectric generators are sandwiched
between hot and cold channels. The exhaust gases flow in the
EHX, whereas the water flows in the lower channel. The entire
domain is discretized into Nx and Ny units. The following equations
can be written for each unit. The heat lost by the exhaust gas in each
unit is given by Eq. (14) [20]

QiH = C p,a ma (Tai − Tai+1 ) (14)

The heat lost in the unit is transported to the hot side of TG through
convection. For Ny units, it is represented by Eq. (15) [20]

QiH = Ny ha,avg Au (Ta,avg

i
− THi ) (15)
Fig. 19 Comparison of the model with the previous experiments
where Ny is the number of units in the Y-direction. ha,avg is the
average heat transfer coefficient of hot air experimentally evaluated
in the previous section. Au is the area of the control unit. The heat
absorbed by the single TG from the hot side is given by Eq. (16) Qi,l = Ny hc Au (TCi − Tw,avg
i
) (22)
[25]
where Tw,avg is the average temperature of water in the particular unit.
 hc is the cold-side heat transfer coefficient. In the present study, the
I 2 R pn
QiH = Ny α pn ITHi + kpn (THi −TCi ) − (16) cold-side thermal conditions are kept constant. Hence, a constant
2
heat transfer coefficient of 500 W/m2K is assumed. The heat
where THi and TCi are the hot- and cold-side temperatures of the TG energy gained by the coolant from TG is given by Eq. (23)
module. αpn is the Seebeck coefficient of the overall module given
by Eq. (17) QiC = C p,w mw (Twi+1 − Twi ) (23)
Cp,w denotes the specific heat capacity of water. Tw and Tw,i+1 are
α pn = αp − αn (17)
the temperature of the water at the inlet and outlet of the unit. A fixed
mass flowrate of 0.03 kg/s is maintained for water at the cold side.
αp and αn are the individual Seebeck coefficients of p-type and The total power generated by the overall system can be obtained
n-type legs, respectively. I is the current produced by the TG by Eq. (24)
module, which is calculated by Eq. (18)

Nx


Nx P=2 (QiH − QiL ) (24)
Ny α pn (THi − TCi ) i=1

I = i=1 (18) The properties of TG material are shown in Table 4.

2Nx Ny R pn
kpn and Rpn are the thermal conductance and electrical resistance of 5.2.1 Validation of Heat Transfer Model. Equations (15)–(25)
the TG material which are calculated by Eqs. (19) and (20) are simultaneously solved in the computer program called Engineer-
ing Equation Solver (EES) to obtain the total power output of the
l b(λp − λn ) system. The model used has been validated with the experimental
k pn = (19)
h results of Niu et al. [18], as shown in Fig. 19. The present models
slightly overpredict the experimental power output due to two main
h(ρp − ρn )
R pn = (20)
lw
Similarly, the heat rejected by the cold side of TGs is given by
Eq. (21) [25]

I 2 R pn
QiC = Ny α pn ITCi + k pn (THi − TCi ) + (21)
2
The heat carried away by the coolant from the cold side of TG can
be represented by Eq. (22)

Table 4 Material properties of TG material

Parameter (unit) Value Parameter (unit) Value

αp (VK−1) 2.037 × 10−4 l (mm) 5

αn (VK−1) −1.721 × 10−4 b (mm) 5
λp (Ωm) 1.265 h (mm) 5
λn (Ωm) 1.011 ρn (Wm−1K−1) 1.119 × 10−5
ρp (Wm−1K−1) 1.314 × 10−5 Tin 500 K
Fig. 20 Comparison of area for same power output

041003-8 / Vol. 13, AUGUST 2021 Transactions of the ASME


reasons. The first is the assumption of uniform properties of thermo-
electric material used in the simulation. In practical applications, TG
work under large temperature gradients, which alter the property of
the TG material. The second is the non-consideration of the contact
thermal resistances in simulation. Contact thermal resistances are
unavoidable and a cause of the discrepancy between the predicted
value and the actual value. The total deviation is well within the
acceptable range, and the results obtained by the model are
satisfactory.
5.2.2 Reduction in Exhaust Heat Exchanger Area. In this
section, the numerical simulation is performed with inputs from
the experimental data obtained. Initially, the heat transfer coefficient
obtained from experimental results for smooth geometry is used in
Eq. (15) to obtain the power output of the overall system. The
results of net thermal-hydraulic efficiency indicated that the
maximum enhancement in heat transfer occurs at a twist fraction
of 4, pitch fraction of 8, and slope as 60 deg. Hence, this particular
geometry is selected. The heat transfer coefficient of this particular
geometry is selected from the experimental results and used in
Eq. (15). The improved heat transfer coefficient definitely increased
the power output of the system. For such a system, the area is reduced
by decreasing the number of Nx control units till the power output of
the new system is the same as that of the power produced by EHX of
flat geometry. The total area of EHX is calculated by Eq. (25)
Total area = Nx Ny Au (25)
The area reduced by improving heat transfer for various Reynolds
number is plotted in Fig. 20. It is seen that a significant reduction in
area is possible by employing twisted tape inserts in EHX. The reduc-
tion is initially higher at lower Reynolds number due to the same fact
that the net thermal-hydraulic efficiency was maximum at lower Rey-
nolds number discussed in Sec. 5.1.4 . Thus, the use of twisted tape
inserts is recommended for optimum sizing of the EHX.
6 Conclusion
The thermal and hydraulic characteristics of the exhaust heat
exchanger (EHX) equipped with twisted tape inserts were studied
by means of experimentation. The performance of the heat exchanger
is found to be greatly dependent on the geometry of the twisted tape
used. Parameters like twist fraction, pitch fraction, and slope are
investigated to arrive at the optimum set of geometric variables.
Lastly, certain important applications of the study were discussed.
• The introduction of twisted tape inserts enhances the inner heat
transfer coefficient of EHX by inducing the turbulence and the
pressure drop across the EHX increases.
• Geometric variables of twisted tapes have a significant effect
on the thermal and hydraulic performance of the heat
exchanger.
• The maximum net thermal-hydraulic efficiency obtained in the
given flow range is 1.93 at twist and pitch fractions of 4 and 8,
respectively.
• The reduction in area is initially higher at lower Reynolds
number due to the maximum net thermal-hydraulic efficiency
for the system.
The waste heat recovery system can be made remarkably
compact by the use of suitable inserts like twisted tape. Thus, the
use of twisted tape inserts is recommended for optimum sizing of
the EHX. This would help for the integration of the waste heat
recovery with the engine, where the space available is very limited.
Nomenclature
Symbols
w = width of the twisted tape strip
A = area of the control unit
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F = friction factor
P = pitch of the twisted rib
Q = heat transfer rate
hf,j,j+1 = local heat transfer coefficient of air from jth and (j + 1)
th point
ka = thermal conductivity of the air
kAl = thermal conductivity of the plate of EHX
ma = mass flowrate of the air
havg = average heat transfer coefficient inside EHX
hf,j = local heat transfer coefficient of exhaust gas inside
EHX
tAl = thickness of the plate of EHX
A0 = area of orifice plate
Cp,a = specific heat capacity of the air
Cd = coefficient of discharge of orificemeter
Dh = hydraulic diameter of the EHX
D0 = diameter of orifice meter
Dp = diameter of pipe
Rcond = conduction resistance of the plate of EHX
Tj,ex = temperature of air at jth point
Tj,j+1,avg = average temperature of air from jth and (j + 1)th point
Tj,j+1,in,s = Inner surface temperature of the EHX between jth and
(j + 1)th point
Tj,j+1,out,s = outer surface temperature of the EHX between jth and
(j + 1)th point
Va = velocity of the air
Nu = Nusselt number
P/w = pitch fraction
T/w = twist fraction
ΔP = pressure drop across orifice meter
ρ = density of the exhaust gas
η = net thermal-hydraulic efficiency
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