Numerical Simulation the Effect of Geometrical and Operational Parameters on the Thermal Performance of the Horizontal Geothermal Heat exchanger with Radial Fin and Wire Coil

In the present paper, the heat transfer and fluid flow in a horizontal geothermal heat exchanger equipped with radial fins on the outer surface of the tube (in contact with soil) and wire coil are investigated numerically. The geometrical parameters of the wire coil are kept constant. However, the effects of the geometrical and operational parameters of the radial fins, including the radius and pitch of the wire coil in different Reynolds number on the thermal performance of the considered horizontal geothermal heat exchanger are studied. The flow regime is considered turbulence. The numerical simulations are performed by a commercial CFD code, ANSYS FLUENT 18.2. Results showed that between the models with different pitch of radial fins, as the pitch of fins increases, the effect of fin on heat transfer declines which leads to higher temperature in the outlet. Also, as the pitch of the radial fins declines, the number of fins increase which leads to high heat transfer rate.

Keywords:

Geothermal Energy , Horizontal Heat Exchanger , Radial Fin , Wire Coil , Heat Transfer