CONVECTIVE MASS-TRANSFER AND PRESSURE LOSS CHARACTERISTICS OF STAGGERED SHORT PIN-FIN ARRAYS

The effect of fin shape on the mass transfer and pressure loss of a te n-row staggered short pin-fin array in fully developed approaching flo w is investigated experimentally using three different fin shapes. The Reynolds number, based on approach-velocity and fin diameter, ranges from 3000 to 18 000. The fin shape affects the row-by-row variation of Sherwood number. The results indicate that the stepped-diameter circu lar fin arrays have not only a larger mass transfer coefficient, but a lso a smaller pressure loss compared to a uniform-diameter circular fi n array. In stepped-diameter circular fin arrays, the effect of step-l ength-to-total-length ratio on Sherwood number is small, but the total mass transfer rate and pressure loss change significantly with this r atio, owing to differences in mass transfer area and free flow area, r espectively.