The demand for a compact heat exchanger is growing as many industries including automotive, electronics, heat recovery, and others are forced to meet their increasing heat flux density requirements. Currently, various heat transfer augmentationconcepts are being used in industries for heat transfer enhancement, and most of the concepts depend on boundary layer control and increase of the heat transfer surface. However, this approach has limitations due to the high pressure drop penalty as a direct result of applying the augmentation devices. Recent heat transfer studies of an annulus or a duct, one wall of which is in motion transversely with respect to the axial fluid flow, showed that a significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient is possible with a moderate pressure drop in the flow direction. The objective of the proposed work is to study experimentally the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of the annulus of two concentric cylinders with the inner cylinder (grooved or ungrooved) rotating, with the aim of making a feasibility study of a novel heat exchanger. Potential impact of the heat exchanger on aerospace, automotive, and electronic industries is expected to be very high.The potential commercial application as described by the awardee: Research results will provide basic data for new ideas leading to the development of new automotive and aerospace heat exchangers, new electronic cooling devices, or for the purpose of troubleshooting.
