Thermo-hydraulic Performance of Annular-Finned Double-Pipe Heat Exchanger: Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Metallic and Polymer Composite Tube Wall Materials

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Year : 2026 | Volume : 14 | 03 | Page :
    By

    Rushikesh Ghodekar,

  • Aditya Phalke,

  • Vaibhav Gobbur,

  • Jyoti Gunjotkar,

  • Abhijit Malge,

  • Pramod Kothmire,

  1. UG Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune, Maharashtra, India
  2. UG Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune, Maharashtra, India
  3. UG Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune, Maharashtra, India
  4. Technical Assistant, Department of Electronics & telecommunication Engineering, MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune, Maharashtra, India
  5. Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering Engineering, MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune, Maharashtra, India
  6. Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Double-pipe heat exchangers are central to the process industries — dependable, easily maintained, and straightforward to fabricate. Their conventional form relies on metallic tube materials, most often copper or stainless steel. Both metals conduct heat well, but they are dense, prone to corrosion in aggressive service environments, and increasingly at odds with the light-weighting goals that drive modern system design. Fibre-reinforced polymer composites, epoxy-based materials, and thermally enhanced thermoplastics such as GNP-filled PTFE and boron-nitride-loaded PEEK are attracting serious interest as tube-wall candidates — provided their lower thermal conductivity can be compensated geometrically. This study investigates that trade-off directly. A double-pass double-pipe heat exchanger fitted with annular fins on the inner tube outer surface was examined experimentally and through validated three-dimensional CFD in ANSYS Fluent 2025R1, using the realizable k–ε turbulence model with conjugate heat transfer. Cold water at 25°C passed through the inner tube; hot water at 50°C through the annular region, with equal flow rates on both sides. Against a plain-tube baseline, the finned configuration improved heat transfer rates by 25–30% and raised effectiveness consistently across flow rates from 1 to 15 LPM.Building on that validated model, inner-tube wall conductivity was varied parametrically from 0.2 W/m·K (neat polymer) to 20 W/m·K (near-metallic composite). Annular fins proved effective at compensating for reduced wall conductivity: a composite tube at k = 5 W/m·K achieves thermal performance within 8–12% of the metallic baseline, while offering 40–60% weight reduction and inherent corrosion immunity. Pressure drop remained governed by flow rate and fin geometry rather than wall material, changing negligibly across the full conductivity range. These findings define a practical material selection window for lightweight, corrosion-resistant polymer composite tube application in compact double-pipe exchangers.

Keywords: CFD simulation, Double-pipe heat exchanger, Annular fins, Polymer composite tube, Thermal conductivity parametric study, Thermo-hydraulic performance, Lightweight heat exchanger, Sustainable thermal design.

How to cite this article:
Rushikesh Ghodekar, Aditya Phalke, Vaibhav Gobbur, Jyoti Gunjotkar, Abhijit Malge, Pramod Kothmire. Thermo-hydraulic Performance of Annular-Finned Double-Pipe Heat Exchanger: Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Metallic and Polymer Composite Tube Wall Materials. Journal of Polymer & Composites. 2026; 14(03):-.
How to cite this URL:
Rushikesh Ghodekar, Aditya Phalke, Vaibhav Gobbur, Jyoti Gunjotkar, Abhijit Malge, Pramod Kothmire. Thermo-hydraulic Performance of Annular-Finned Double-Pipe Heat Exchanger: Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Metallic and Polymer Composite Tube Wall Materials. Journal of Polymer & Composites. 2026; 14(03):-. Available from: https://journals.stmjournals.com/jopc/article=2026/view=245059


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Ahead of Print Subscription Original Research
Volume 14
03
Received 29/04/2026
Accepted 23/05/2026
Published 25/05/2026
Publication Time 26 Days
2

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