Characterisation of the heat transfer in displaced enhancement devices by means of inverse problem approach applied to IR images

Displaced enhancement devices are inserts positioned inside pipes that increase the heat transfer rate. This study presents an original application of an inverse analysis technique to experimental infrared temperature data to estimate the local convective heat flux for forced convection flow in a pipe in which this kind of device is present. Butterfly-shaped inserts have been investigated to determine their local and global thermal performance. The insert produces a distortion in the velocity profile that causes an irregular distribution of the wall heat flux along the circumferential coordinate. Several studies have investigated displaced enhancement devices, but they generally considered only the overall heat transfer performance. The present work aims to fill this gap by presenting and testing an experimental procedure for estimating the local convective heat flux in pipes equipped with this type of insert. The experimental results obtained in the present investigation are useful for the design of heat exchangers for processes in which product temperature must be carefully controlled (e.g. pharmaceutical and food industries). These types of devices induce significant spatial variation of the heat flux, and quantitative data of this aspect is of primary importance.