Fin Spacing Optimization for Isothermal Rectangular Polished Aluminum Fins on a Vertical Base [ ]


The effect of fin spacing on the steady state heat transfer for an array rectangular aluminum fins on a vertical base has been investigated in the present work. The heat transfer rate from the fin array was experimentally studied by varying the fin spacing. Fin height (H), length (L) and thickness (t) are kept constant during experimentation while the fin spacing (S), heat input (Q) and number of fins have been varied as: 5 - 22.5 mm, 30 – 150 W and 5 – 15 respectively. Total 11 fin configurations have been tested during the experimentation. Radiation network analysis is used to estimate the radiation heat transfer rate and it is subtracted from the total heat input to estimate the convection heat transfer rate. Convective heat transfer coefficient, the average Nusselt number and Grashoff number have been estimated based on the analysis.