Heat/mass transfer augmentation in a square duct roughened with angled discrete ribs having narrow gaps

Local heat/mass transfer and friction loss in a square duct roughened with various types of continuous and discrete rib turbulators are investigated. The combined effects of the gap flows of the discrete ribs and the secondary flows are examined for the purpose of the reduction of thermally weak regions and the promotion of the uniformity of heat/mass transfer distributions as well as the augmentation of average heat/mass transfer. The rib-to-rib pitch to the rib height ratio (p/e) of 8 and the rib angles of 90 .deg. and 60 .deg. are selected with e/Dh=0.008. The vortical structure of the secondary flows induced by the parallel angled arrays are quite distinct from that induced by the cross angled arrays. This distinction influences on heat/mass transfer and friction loss in all the tested cases. The gap flows of the discrete ribs reduce the strength of the secondary flows but promote local turbulence and flow mixing. Consequently, the angled discrete ribs with the small gaps provide a more uniform heat/mass transfer distribution high average heat/mass transfer