Experimental and numerical investigation of car intercooler at non-uniformity of velocity and temperature conditions

This article was carried out to investigate and compare fin-tube and plate-fin intercooler at different conditions (non-uniformity of velocity and non-uniformity of temperature of car inlet air with radiator effects) to optimize intercooler layout in cooling system. A tow-dimensional code for fin-tube heat exchangers (fin-tube intercooler and radiator) and a three-dimensional code for plate-fin intercooler were developed by ε-NTU method. Fin-tube model was validated with experimental tunnel test data and plate fin was validated by available data at literature. Results showed that plate-fin performance at least 6.25% better than fin-tube intercooler. Doubling the aspect ratio caused 1.5% and 5% increase of plate-fin and fin-tube intercooler heat transfer respectively. When non-uniformity of velocity increases to 0.8, heat transfer decreases 13.8% and 19.6% for fin-tube and plate-fin intercooler respectively. This reduction in performance is the maximum value that is produced in planting intercooler along the wheels and above the engine. Applying radiator in system and planting block result in approximately 4.5% and 2.4% impairing performance of fin-tube and plate-fin intercooler respectively while changing position of block dose not effect on intercooler performance. The presence of shields and other obstacles in front of the car will create such an impact on the intercooler. Pressure drop of fin-tube intercooler 37.5% lower than plate-fin intercooler.