G.

Comini
e-mail: gianni.comini@uniud.it

C. Nonino
S. Savino
Department of Energy Technologies,
University of Udine,
Via delle Scienze 208,
33100 Udine, Italy

Numerical Evaluation of Fin

Performance Under
Dehumidifying Conditions
A numerical model of moist air cooling in compact heat exchangers is presented. The
model requires the solution of a coupled problem, since interface temperatures, obtained
from the solution of the energy equation in adjacent fluid and solid regions, are used to
set the appropriate boundary conditions for the transport equation of water vapor in
moist air. The approach is completely general, even if the finite-element method is used
for the simulations reported in the paper. The numerical results are favorably compared
with the corresponding experimental results concerning the rectangular and wavy fins
under dehumidifying conditions. DOI: 10.1115/1.2755012
Keywords: finned surfaces, dehumidification, heat transfer, mass transfer, conjugate
problems, numerical simulation

Introduction
Simultaneous heat and mass convection occurs in air-cooling
systems whenever the exchange surfaces are at a temperature below the local dew point. Typical examples are heat exchangers
utilized for summer air-conditioning and process-air dehumidifiers
employed in industrial and home appliances. Usually, in these
apparatuses, the air-side convection coefficient is much smaller
than the convection coefficient for the refrigerating fluid. Thus, on
the air side, recourse is often made to fins, which increase the
exchange area and reduce the thermal resistance.
When vapor condensation occurs on the fin surfaces, the cooling process requires the removal of sensible as well as latent heat.
Because of the industrial importance of heat exchangers operating
under dehumidifying conditions, the evaluation of wet fin performances has received a great deal of attention in the literature. In
particular, it is worth mentioning the experimental researches of
Wang and co-workers, which deal with the design of wet heat
exchangers 15 as well as with fin performances in both dry and
wet conditions 69. The aforementioned studies represent a substantial database. However, the feeling is that designers need further information on fin performances and air-side convection coefficients under dehumidifying conditions 4,5. The present paper
illustrates a numerical procedure that can be used to obtain this
kind of information. In general, the modeling of dehumidification
processes, which involve adjacent fluid and solid domains, requires the solution of a conjugate conduction and convection
problem, since interface temperatures must be calculated at the
same time as temperature distributions in the fluid and solid regions. To this aim, it is convenient to solve the energy equation in
the whole domain, including the fluid and the solid regions, even
if the species conservation equation and the NavierStokes equations can still be solved only in the fluid region.
At interfaces between the fluid and the solid regions, we can
use the ideal gas relationship to compute the local mass fraction of
water vapor corresponding to the saturation pressure at the wall
temperature. When interface temperatures are lower than the local
dew point, condensation occurs and the saturation value of the
mass fraction is utilized as a Dirichlet boundary condition for the
species conservation equation. If, on the contrary, interface temperatures are higher than the local dew point, no condensation
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOURHEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received October 24, 2006; final manuscript received February 13, 2007. Review conducted by Bengt Sunden.

NAL OF

Journal of Heat Transfer

occurs and we can utilize a Neumann boundary condition zero

normal derivative of the mass fraction for the species conservation equation.
Our model neglects both the advection velocities induced by
vapor condensation and the presence of droplets and liquid films.
Neglecting advection velocities is certainly justified by the low
rates of mass convection, which characterize standard air-cooling
processes 10. Neglecting the presence of droplets and liquid
films implies, in principle, that the condensate is promptly removed from the interfaces. In practice, as shown in the following
sections, the assumption can be extended to many situations of
technical interest characterized by a good drainage and a relatively low rate of mass convection. On the other hand, designers
of compact heat exchangers always devote much effort to the
achievement of a good drainage. Retained condensate, in fact,
might either be blown away from the apparatus, creating an unwanted fog, or remain on the cooling surface, providing a medium
for the growth of bacteria 11,12. Furthermore, the influence of
droplets and liquid films has not been fully established experimentally see, for example, Refs. 1114. The reason is that droplets
increase the effective roughness of the exchange surface. Thus,
they increase friction factors and heat convection coefficients in
turbulent flows, but not in laminar flows, which are rather insensitive to roughness effects. Similarly, liquid films not only increase pressure losses and convection rates by increasing average
axial velocities but also bring about additional thermal resistances.
The prevailing opinion is that pressure losses are increased by the
retained condensate, at least in the presence of liquid films, but it
is still unclear whether heat and mass convection coefficients are
increased or decreased.
When the presence of liquid films and droplets is neglected, the
interface between the air and the solid region is an internal boundary as far as the energy equation is concerned. Therefore, the
continuity of temperatures is ensured by the solution of the energy
equation on the whole domain, but the additional latent heat flux
on surfaces where condensation takes place must still be accounted for. This heat flux affects the temperature distribution on
interfaces and, consequently, influences also the boundary condition for the species conservation equation. The already mentioned
coupling between temperature and mass concentration fields is, in
fact, due to the coupling between conduction and convection.
The proposed model does not rely on a particular numerical
technique. However, in this study, we utilize an equal-order finiteelement procedure for space discretization and a pseudotransient
algorithm to obtain the steady-state solutions 15,16. The tech-

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nique used to deal with the pressure-velocity coupling in the

NavierStokes equations is described in Ref. 17.
The capabilities of the procedure to deal with realistic boundary
conditions and complex geometries have already been demonstrated by several simulations of tube-fin exchangers operating
under dehumidifying conditions 15,16. Here, the accuracy and
reliability of the methodology are assessed by comparing our numerical results with the experimental results of Wang and coworkers for rectangular 6 and wavy fins 7 under dehumidifying conditions.

The applications considered here refer to an incompressible,

laminar flow of moist air treated as a constant property fluid. The
heat and mass convection process is governed by the continuity
equation, the NavierStokes equations, the species conservation
equation, and the energy equation. The continuity and the NavierStokes equations can be written as

v
+ v v = 2v p

where is the mass fraction of water vapor in moist air.

In the absence of volumetric heating and of significant viscous
dissipation, the energy equation can be written as

c p

t
+ c pv t = k2t

In the above equation, Rv is the gas constant for water vapor and
the approximate relationship used to evaluate the saturation pressure is 18

pst = 610.78 exp 17.2694

t
t + 238.3

In the numerical simulations, the NavierStokes equations and the

species conservation equation are solved only in the fluid region,
while the energy equation is solved in both the fluid and the solid
regions. Obviously, in the solution of the energy equation in the
whole domain, we must refer to the pertinent thermophysical
properties in each region, and we must assume v = 0 in the solid
region.
To complete the formulation, appropriate conditions must be
imposed on the interfaces between the fluid and solid domains and
on the external boundaries.

with the vapor pressure expressed in pascals and the temperature

expressed in C. The relationship
8

obtained from Eqs. 6 and 7 is used as a Dirichlet boundary

condition prescribing the distribution of the mass fraction of water
vapor.
On interfaces where the temperature is higher than the local
dew point, no condensation occurs and we can thus use the Neumann boundary condition

=0
n

The species conservation equation can be written as

+ v = D2

pstw
R vT w

= stw

Statement of the Problem

v=0

stw =

that yields a zero value of the mass flow rate of vapor condensing
v = 0.
per unit area m
Since the interface temperature is obtained from the energy
equation, the continuity of temperature between the fluid and the
solid regions is already ensured by the model. On the other hand,
on interfaces where condensation takes place, we must account for
the latent heat flux
vHvl
q = m

10

when we solve the energy equation.

Other Boundary Conditions

At inflow, we prescribe the inlet distributions of velocity, mass
fraction, and temperature by imposing
v = vi

= i

t = ti

11

We must also specify suitable conditions at an artificial outflow

boundary. These may be represented by the advective boundary
conditions written in the form

v
v
+ u = 0
n

=0
+ u
n

Interface Boundary Conditions

As already pointed out, we disregard the transverse velocity
component induced by the condensation process, and we assume
that the condensate is promptly removed from the interface. In the
absence of advection velocities, we impose the usual no-slip conditions
v=0

on all solid walls.

Under the assumption that the condensate is promptly removed,
the moist air is always in direct contact with the wall, and the
distribution of the interface temperatures tw obtained from the
solution of the energy equation leads to the appropriate boundary
condition for the species conservation equation. The implementation is done as illustrated below.
On interfaces where the temperature is lower than the local dew
point, we can use the ideal gas relationship to compute the value
of the mass fraction of water vapor corresponding to the saturation
pressure ps at the absolute wall temperature Tw

t
t
+ u = 0
n

12

In the above equations, u is a constant phase speed, estimated as

the average velocity in the direction n orthogonal to the outflow
boundary. It must be noted that, in steady-state problems, boundary conditions 12 reduce to the more common zero normal derivative condition for all variables.
On symmetry boundaries, we can impose the boundary condition
un =

u t
=
=
=0
n n n

13

where un is the velocity component in the normal direction and u

is the velocity component in the tangential direction. The adiabatic boundary condition can be considered a particular symmetry
condition for the temperature distribution and can thus be written
in the usual form: t / n = 0. In addition, appropriate thermal
boundary conditions must be imposed on the external boundaries

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Fig. 4 Rectangular fins in wet conditions at i = 50%: experimentally 6 and numerically determined values of dimensionless temperatures for a uf = 0.5 m / s and b uf = 4.0 m / s

from 50% to 70%. In fact, the dry-wet boundary moves upward

and increases its inclination and, at i = 70% and u f = 0.75 m / s,
the whole fin is wet. At i = 90%, the temperature remains below
the local dew point on the whole fin for all frontal velocities.
Consequently, the i = 90% results are of little interest and have
not been reported here. We can also add that, from a qualitative
point of view, all numerically determined distributions of mass
flow rates of vapor per unit area compare favorably with the corresponding visualizations of Lin et al. 6, which cannot be reported here.
More quantitative comparisons can be carried out between
computed temperatures and temperatures measured at selected locations 6. The comparisons illustrated in Fig. 4 concern the i
= 50% case and two frontal velocities: u f = 0.5 and 4 m / s. As can
be seen, the agreement is quite good. In particular, the expected
trends are confirmed since the dimensionless temperatures t* = t f
ta / tb ta near the leading edge, at x / L = 0.25, are lower than
those near the trailing edge, at x / L = 0.75. Analogous results, reported in Figs. 5 and 6, have been obtained also for i = 70% and
i = 90%.
In Fig. 7, calculated and experimental values of wet and dry fin
efficiencies are compared in the whole range of Reynolds numbers considered. The overall agreement is very good. Moreover,
Journal of Heat Transfer

Fig. 5 Rectangular fins in wet conditions at i = 70%: experimentally 6 and numerically determined values of dimensionless temperatures for a uf = 0.5 m / s and b uf = 4.0 m / s

the numerical simulations correctly yield wet fin efficiencies consistently lower than the corresponding dry fin efficiencies. In fact,
because of the latent heat contribution, total heat transfer rates are
higher in wet conditions. Thus, in wet conditions, heat conduction
through the fin is less effective in maintaining a low temperature
gradient along the fin. Finally, it can be pointed out that both wet
and dry efficiencies decrease with the Reynolds number since
convection coefficients increase with the Reynolds number, thus
increasing heat loads on the fin.

Convective Heat and Mass Transfer on Wavy Fins

The second comparison is carried out with reference to the
experiments illustrated in Ref. 7, concerning condensation on
wavy fins. Boundary conditions and geometry of the domain,
schematized in Fig. 8a, were the same referred to in some of the
tests carried out by Lin et al. 7. Also in this case, the aluminum
alloy 6061, having a thermal conductivity k = 150 W / m K, was
chosen as the base and fin material. As shown in Fig. 8, the geometry, which consists of several two-wave fins, can be described
in terms of height H = 100 mm, total length L = 150 mm, fin thickness Wt = 3.2 mm, fin spacing Ws = 2.6 mm, and fin inclination
angle = 15 deg. The boundary conditions utilized in the simulations were as follows.
OCTOBER 2007, Vol. 129 / 1399

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Acknowledgment
We gratefully acknowledge a personal communication from
Professor C. C. Wang concerning the details of his experimental
measurements.

Nomenclature
A
cp
Dh
D
h0
H
H vl
i
k
L
a
m
v
m

n
p
q
q
Rv
Re
t
T
uf
ui
v
W
x,y,z

area, m2
specific heat at constant pressure, J/kg K
hydraulic diameter, m
diffusion coefficient, m2 / s
sensible heat transfer coefficient, W / m2 K
height, m
latent heat of condensation, J/kg
enthalpy of moist air, J/kg
thermal conductivity, W/m K
length, m
mass flow rate of air, kg/s
mass flow rate of vapor per unit area,
kg/ m2 s
outward normal, m
pressure, Pa
heat flow rate, W
heat flux, W / m2
gas constant, kJ/kg K
Reynolds number, Re= uiDh /
temperature, C
absolute temperature, K
frontal velocity, m/s
inlet velocity, m/s
velocity vector, m/s
width, m
Cartesian coordinates, m

Greek Symbols

angle
efficiency
relative humidity
mass fraction of water vapor, kgvapor / kgmoist
dynamic viscosity, kg/m s
density, kg/ m3
time, s

Superscript

- average value

Subscripts
a
b
d
f
h
i
o
n
s
w

air
base of the fin
dry
fin
wet
inlet
outlet
normal
saturation
wall
latent
tangential

air

0 referred to the total heat transfer area

*
dimensionless value

References
1 Wang, C. C., Hsieh, Y. C., and Lin, Y. T., 1997, Performance of Plate Finned
Tube Heat Exchangers Under Dehumidifying Conditions, J. Heat Transfer,
119, pp. 119117.
2 Wang, C. C., Lin, Y. T., and Lee, C. J., 2000, Heat and Momentum Transfer
for Compact Louvered Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers in Wet Conditions, Int.
J. Heat Mass Transfer, 43, pp. 34433452.
3 Wang, C. C., Lee, W. S., Sheu, W. J., and Chang, Y. J., 2001, Parametric
Study of the Air-Side Performance of Slit Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers in
Wet Conditions, Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., Part C: J. Mech. Eng. Sci., 215, pp.
11111121.
4 Pirompugd, W., Wongwises, S., and Wang, C. C., 2005, A Tube-by-Tube
Reduction Method for Simultaneous Heat and Mass Transfer Characteristics
for Plain Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers in Dehumidifying Conditions, Heat
Mass Transfer, 41, pp. 756765.
5 Pirompugd, W., Wongwises, S., and Wang, C. C., 2006, Simultaneous Heat
and Mass Transfer Characteristics for Wavy Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers
under Dehumidifying Conditions, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 49, pp. 132
143.
6 Lin, Y. T., Hsu, K. C., Chang, Y. J., and Wang, C. C., 2001, Performance of
Rectangular Fin in Wet Conditions: Visualization and Wet Fin Efficiency, J.
Heat Transfer, 123, pp. 827836.
7 Lin, Y. T., Hwang, Y. M., and Wang, C. C., 2002, Performance of the Herringbone Wavy Fin Under Dehumidifying Conditions, Int. J. Heat Mass
Transfer, 45, pp. 50355044.
8 Wongwises, S., and Chokeman, Y., 2004, Effect of Fin-Thickness on the
Air-Side Performance of Herringbone Wavy Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers,
Heat Mass Transfer, 41, pp. 147154.
9 Wongwises, S., Wang, C. C., and Kuvannarat, T., 2006, Effect of FinThickness on the Air-Side Performance of Wavy Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers Under Dehumidifying Conditions, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 49, pp.
25872596.
10 Comini, G., and Savino, S., 2006, Latent and Sensible Heat Transfer in AirCooling Applications, 24th UIT National Heat Transfer Conference, Keynote
Lecture, Edizioni ETS, Pisa, pp. 312.
11 Korte, C., and Jacobi, A. M., 2001, Condensate Retention Effects on the
Performance of Plain-Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers: Retention Data and
Modeling, J. Heat Transfer, 123, pp. 926936.
12 ElSherbini, A. I., and Jacobi, A. M., 2006, A Model for Condensate Retention
on Plain-Fin Exchangers, J. Heat Transfer, 128, pp. 427433.
13 Hu, X., Zhang, L., and Jacobi, A. M., 1994, Surface Irregularity Effects of
Droplets and Retained Condensate on Local Heat Transfer to Finned Tubes in
Cross-Flow, ASHRAE Trans., 1181, pp. 375381.
14 Ramadhyani, S., 1998, Calculation of Air-Side Heat Transfer in Compact
Heat Exchangers Under Condensing Conditions, Computer Simulations in
Compact Heat Exchangers, B. Sunden and M. Faghri, eds., Computational
Mechanics, Southampton, Chap. 6.
15 Comini, G., Nonino, C., and Savino, S., 2005, Convective Heat and Mass
Transfer under Dehumidifying Conditions, Progress in Computational Heat
and Mass Transfer, Keynote Lecture Vol. II, R. Bennacer, ed., Editions TEC &
DOC, Lavoisier, pp. 711722.
16 Comini, G., Nonino, C., and Savino, S., 2007, Modeling of Coupled Conduction and Convection in Moist Air Cooling, Numer. Heat Transfer, Part A, 51,
pp. 2337.
17 Nonino, C., 2003, A Simple Pressure Stabilization for a SIMPLE-Like EqualOrder FEM Algorithm, Numer. Heat Transfer, Part B, 44, pp. 6181.
18 Padfield, T., 1996, Equations Describing the Physical Properties of Moist
Air, http://www.natmus.dk/cons/tp/atmcalc/atmoclc1.htm
19 Tezduyar, T. E., and Ganjoo, D. K., 1986, Petrov-Galerkin Formulations with
Weighting Functions Dependent upon Spatial and Temporal Discretization:
Applications to Transient Convections-Diffusion Problems, Comput. Methods
Appl. Mech. Eng., 59, pp. 4971.
20 Jansen, K. E., Collis, S. S., Whiting, C., and Shakib, F., 1999, A Better
Consistency for Low-Order Stabilized Finite Element Methods, Comput.
Methods Appl. Mech. Eng., 174, pp. 153170.
21 Volchkov, E. P., Terekhov, V. V., and Terekhov, V. I., 2004, A Numerical
Study of Boundary-Layer Heat and Mass Transfer in Forced Flow of Humid
Air with Surface Steam Condensation, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 47, pp.
14731481.

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Fig. 4 Rectangular fins in wet conditions at i = 50%: experimentally 6 and numerically determined values of dimensionless temperatures for a uf = 0.5 m / s and b uf = 4.0 m / s

from 50% to 70%. In fact, the dry-wet boundary moves upward

and increases its inclination and, at i = 70% and u f = 0.75 m / s,
the whole fin is wet. At i = 90%, the temperature remains below
the local dew point on the whole fin for all frontal velocities.
Consequently, the i = 90% results are of little interest and have
not been reported here. We can also add that, from a qualitative
point of view, all numerically determined distributions of mass
flow rates of vapor per unit area compare favorably with the corresponding visualizations of Lin et al. 6, which cannot be reported here.
More quantitative comparisons can be carried out between
computed temperatures and temperatures measured at selected locations 6. The comparisons illustrated in Fig. 4 concern the i
= 50% case and two frontal velocities: u f = 0.5 and 4 m / s. As can
be seen, the agreement is quite good. In particular, the expected
trends are confirmed since the dimensionless temperatures t* = t f
ta / tb ta near the leading edge, at x / L = 0.25, are lower than
those near the trailing edge, at x / L = 0.75. Analogous results, reported in Figs. 5 and 6, have been obtained also for i = 70% and
i = 90%.
In Fig. 7, calculated and experimental values of wet and dry fin
efficiencies are compared in the whole range of Reynolds numbers considered. The overall agreement is very good. Moreover,
Journal of Heat Transfer

Fig. 5 Rectangular fins in wet conditions at i = 70%: experimentally 6 and numerically determined values of dimensionless temperatures for a uf = 0.5 m / s and b uf = 4.0 m / s

the numerical simulations correctly yield wet fin efficiencies consistently lower than the corresponding dry fin efficiencies. In fact,
because of the latent heat contribution, total heat transfer rates are
higher in wet conditions. Thus, in wet conditions, heat conduction
through the fin is less effective in maintaining a low temperature
gradient along the fin. Finally, it can be pointed out that both wet
and dry efficiencies decrease with the Reynolds number since
convection coefficients increase with the Reynolds number, thus
increasing heat loads on the fin.

Convective Heat and Mass Transfer on Wavy Fins

The second comparison is carried out with reference to the
experiments illustrated in Ref. 7, concerning condensation on
wavy fins. Boundary conditions and geometry of the domain,
schematized in Fig. 8a, were the same referred to in some of the
tests carried out by Lin et al. 7. Also in this case, the aluminum
alloy 6061, having a thermal conductivity k = 150 W / m K, was
chosen as the base and fin material. As shown in Fig. 8, the geometry, which consists of several two-wave fins, can be described
in terms of height H = 100 mm, total length L = 150 mm, fin thickness Wt = 3.2 mm, fin spacing Ws = 2.6 mm, and fin inclination
angle = 15 deg. The boundary conditions utilized in the simulations were as follows.
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Fig. 7 Rectangular fins: experimentally 6 and numerically

determined values of dry i = 40% and wet i = 70% fin
efficiencies

Fig. 6 Rectangular fins in wet conditions at i = 90%: experimentally 6 and numerically determined values of dimensionless temperatures for a uf = 0.5 m / s and b uf = 4.0 m / s

In wet tests, inlet dry bulb temperature tai = 27 C, base fin

temperature tb = 13 C uniform, and inlet relative humidity
i = 85%.
In dry tests, inlet dry bulb temperature tai = 27 C, base fin
temperature tb = 13 C uniform, and inlet relative humidity
i = 40%.

Systematic computations were carried out for several values of the

frontal velocity u f in the range 0.3 u f 4 m / s. The corresponding range of Reynolds numbers Re= uiDh / was 220 Re
2900.
The computational domain is shown in Fig. 8b. In the imposition of the thermal boundary conditions, advantage was taken of
the existing space periodicity in the transverse direction. The final
computational grid consisted of 175,440 nodes and 161,280 eightnode exahedral elements and the time step used in the final
calculations was equal to 0.0001 s.
With respect to the experimental measurements, numerical
simulations may yield more detailed information on the variables
of interest. As an example, the streamlines in the corner regions at
the horizontal midplane z / H = 0.5 are reported in Fig. 9 for two
different values of the frontal velocity u f = 0.3 and 4 m / s. At the

lower frontal velocity, there is no recirculation, while at the higher

frontal velocity, a flow recirculation region is present at each corner; its size increases from inflow to outflow.
The distributions of temperature and mass flow rates of vapor
condensing per unit area of the fin surfaces are shown in Fig. 10
for i = 85% and u f = 4 m / s. Once again the numerically determined distribution of mass flow rates of vapor per unit area, in
addition to being correlated with the temperature distribution,
compares favorably with the corresponding visualization of Lin et
al. 7 not reported here.
On the basis of the available experimental data 7, quantitative
comparison can also be carried out between the measured and
computed values of the sensible heat transfer coefficient. As can
be seen from Fig. 11, the agreement is quite good. It is also worth
noting that, as expected, the sensible heat transfer coefficients in
wet conditions are higher than in dry conditions. This increase,
however, is mainly due to the definition 18, whose denominator
includes the fin efficiency lower in wet conditions.

Conclusions
The modeling of heat and mass transfer under dehumidifying
conditions requires the solution of a coupled problem, since interface temperatures, obtained from the solution of the energy equation in adjacent fluid and solid regions, are used to set the appropriate boundary conditions for the transport equation of water
vapor in moist air. The energy equation must be solved in the
whole domain, and the latent heat flux on the interfaces where
condensation occurs must be taken into account. The latent heat
flux affects the temperature distribution and, consequently, the
mass flow rate of vapor at the interface. Thus, because of the
coupling between conduction and convection, the temperature and
mass concentration fields become coupled through the boundary
conditions. In the examples of application reported here, the governing differential equations have been solved by a finite-element
procedure. However, the solution steps have been formulated in a
continuous setting, where no reference is made to the particular
space discretization technique employed afterward. The accuracy
and reliability of the proposed methodology have been demonstrated by means of comparisons with the experimental results
concerning rectangular and wavy fins under dehumidifying conditions.

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Fig. 10 Wavy fins in wet conditions at i = 85% and uf = 4 m / s:

a temperature distribution and b mass flow rate of vapor
condensing per unit area of the fin surface
Fig. 8 Wavy fins: a geometry not to scale and b computational domain

Fig. 9 Streamlines in the corner regions on the horizontal midplane z / H = 0.5 of wavy fins for two different values of the frontal velocity uf

Journal of Heat Transfer

Fig. 11 Wavy fins: experimentally 7 and numerically determined values of dry i = 40% and wet i = 85% heat transfer
coefficients

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Acknowledgment
We gratefully acknowledge a personal communication from
Professor C. C. Wang concerning the details of his experimental
measurements.

Nomenclature
A
cp
Dh
D
h0
H
H vl
i
k
L
a
m
v
m

n
p
q
q
Rv
Re
t
T
uf
ui
v
W
x,y,z

area, m2
specific heat at constant pressure, J/kg K
hydraulic diameter, m
diffusion coefficient, m2 / s
sensible heat transfer coefficient, W / m2 K
height, m
latent heat of condensation, J/kg
enthalpy of moist air, J/kg
thermal conductivity, W/m K
length, m
mass flow rate of air, kg/s
mass flow rate of vapor per unit area,
kg/ m2 s
outward normal, m
pressure, Pa
heat flow rate, W
heat flux, W / m2
gas constant, kJ/kg K
Reynolds number, Re= uiDh /
temperature, C
absolute temperature, K
frontal velocity, m/s
inlet velocity, m/s
velocity vector, m/s
width, m
Cartesian coordinates, m

Greek Symbols

angle
efficiency
relative humidity
mass fraction of water vapor, kgvapor / kgmoist
dynamic viscosity, kg/m s
density, kg/ m3
time, s

Superscript

- average value

Subscripts
a
b
d
f
h
i
o
n
s
w

air
base of the fin
dry
fin
wet
inlet
outlet
normal
saturation
wall
latent
tangential

air

0 referred to the total heat transfer area

*
dimensionless value

References
1 Wang, C. C., Hsieh, Y. C., and Lin, Y. T., 1997, Performance of Plate Finned
Tube Heat Exchangers Under Dehumidifying Conditions, J. Heat Transfer,
119, pp. 119117.
2 Wang, C. C., Lin, Y. T., and Lee, C. J., 2000, Heat and Momentum Transfer
for Compact Louvered Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers in Wet Conditions, Int.
J. Heat Mass Transfer, 43, pp. 34433452.
3 Wang, C. C., Lee, W. S., Sheu, W. J., and Chang, Y. J., 2001, Parametric
Study of the Air-Side Performance of Slit Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers in
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