Turbulent convective heat transfer in two dimensional roughness
tubes with different roughness heights was experimentally
measured. Heat transfer enhancement mechanism by roughness
and the Prandtl number influences are carefully discussed based
on the measurements. The main conclusions are:
1. Nusselt number ratio does not always increase with increasing
Reynolds number for a fixed roughness height, and it also does
not always increase with increasing roughness height for a fixed
Reynolds number, that is, a maximum Nusselt number ratio
exists.
2. For water as the working fluid, when the roughness height is
smaller than the viscous sublayer thickness, heat transfer can
hardly be enhanced; when the roughness height is about five
times of the viscous sublayer thickness, heat transfer enhancement
can hardly increase, but the flow friction increment
increases sharply. The best heat transfer enhancement for a
given pumping power can be reached when the roughness
height is about three times of the viscous sublayer thickness.
3. Prandtl number of the fluid influences heat transfer enhancement
by affecting the thickness of the heat conduction layer.
Roughness is more suitable for enhancing turbulent heat transfer