CHAPTER

2
Literature review

2.1 Introduction

Extended surfaces or fins have been used for the enhancement of heat transfer for over a
century. However in the last decade, extensive research works have been carried out in this
field because of the requirement of high performance heat transfer equipments with less
weight, volume and cost. The first two sections in this chapter present a review of the
numerous works in the field of fins under simultaneous heat and mass transfer. Moreover,
in the last 20 years, fin design has undergone a considerable improvement by the
introduction of constructal theory in the design of fins. The third section reviews the design
of fins using the constructal theory. Various powerful and efficient analytical techniques
such as Adomian decomposition method, Differential Transform Method, Variational
Iteration Method etc. have been widely used to handle the highly non-linear differential
equations of fins and these have been reviewed in Section 2.5. The volume and the weight
of the devices increase and the costs of production rise when fins are used and hence
determining the optimum dimensions of fins is of vital importance. Reviews of some of the
deterministic and metaheuristic optimization techniques that have been mostly used for
optimum fin design are presented in Section 2.6. Finally, Section 2.7 presents the research
gaps and the motivation behind the current work. This chapter concludes with defining the
objectives of the thesis.
2.2 One dimensional Theoretical Investigations on Wet fins

A lot of analytical and numerical investigations have been carried out in the last few years
in fins of different geometries with various profiles under simultaneous heat and mass
transfer. The thickness of fins is generally very small as compared to the other dimensions
and hence most of the reported analyses were one dimensional. When moist air flows over
a surface whose temperature is less than the dew point temperature of the ambient air, then
moisture condenses on the fin surface by releasing the latent heat and the air immediately
adjacent to the fin surface becomes saturated. Physically, for wet fins, the driving force for
sensible heat transfer is the temperature difference between the incoming air stream and
the fin surface and that for mass transfer is the humidity ratio difference between the
incoming air stream and the saturated air immediately adjacent to the fin surface. The first
researcher who made an attempt to determine analytically the overall efficiency of a wet
fin under fully wet condition was Threlkeld [1]. He analyzed a longitudinal fin with
rectangular profile by considering the enthalpy difference as the driving force for the
combined heat and mass transfer process. For this analysis, the air temperature was
considered to be linearly related to the corresponding saturated air enthalpy. This model
developed by Threlkeld, where enthalpy difference is considered as the driving force for
the combined heat and mass transfer process is called the single-potential method. In ARI
Standard 410-81 [2], a one dimensional analysis similar to Thelkeld [1] was presented, but
by neglecting the thermal resistance of the condensate film. Both the analyses [1, 2]
showed that the wet fin efficiency is less than the corresponding dry fin efficiency and the
wet fin efficiency does not vary significantly with the variation of the relative humidity of
the ambient air. This single potential method was also used by Pirompugad and
Wongwises [3] for determining the efficiency of straight fins of rectangular, triangular,
concave parabolic and convex parabolic profiles under partially wet surface conditions.
The partially wet fin efficiency was found to decrease rapidly with the increase in the air
relative humidity. A comparative study done by Kilic and Onat [4] between wet and dry
vertical rectangular fins showed that the optimum fin length, fin effectiveness and average
fin temperature in case of wet fins was lower than that of dry fins of the same volume. This
work was extended to triangular fins by Toner et al. [5]. Furthermore, wet rectangular and
triangular fins having the same length and the same mass were compared and conditions of
their usage were pointed out.

8
 The other method where the driving forces for the sensible heat transfer and mass
transfer processes are treated separately is called the dual potential method. This dual
potential method was first used by McQuiston [6] and thereafter most of the theoretical
works on wet fins have been carried out by using this method. Analyses using this dual
potential method have been described in the subsection 2.1.1 and 2.1.2.

2.2.1 Analyses using linear relation

For calculating the mass transfer process in wet fins, a relation is required between the
humidity ratio of saturated immediately air adjacent to the fin surface and the
corresponding fin surface temperature. The condensate film that forms on the fin surface
acts a barrier between the incoming air stream and the cold fin surface. But since the
thickness of this condensed water layer is very small, its thermal resistance will be very
low and it can be neglected. Hence, the air immediately adjacent to the condensate layer is
considered to be saturated at the fin surface temperature. The variation of humidity ratio of
this saturated air immediately adjacent to the fin surface with the corresponding fin surface
temperature follows the saturation line on the psychometric chart. This saturation line is
curvilinear in nature but a linear variation may be used as a good approximation when the
temperature difference between the fin base and fin tip is small. Using a linear relation
simplifies the governing equations to a good extent and hence many researchers have
employed this linear variation.

McQuiston [6] considered that the humidity ratio difference between the incoming
air and the saturated air immediately adjacent to the fin surface is linearly related to the
corresponding temperature difference and carried out an analysis of a fully wet

longitudinal fin with rectangular profile. A relation of the form (where

C is a constant) was used and it was concluded that fin efficiency decreases with the
increase in air relative humidity. When cooling and dehumidification processes occur
simultaneously, the condensate film that forms on the fin surface is not a still layer, but
continuously moves down and ultimately drains off the fin surface. The effect of this
moving condensed water film was considered by Xu et.al [7] while determining the
efficiency of a rectangular fin. The fin efficiency obtained from this model was compared
with that obtained from McQuiston’s model [6], in which the effect of the moving
condensate film was not included. It was found that since the condensing rates are low in

9
air cooling and dehumidification processes in the evaporator of air conditioning and
refrigeration apparatuses, the thermal resistance of the condensate film can be neglected
and the McQuiston’s model may be used.
Slightly different from McQuiston’s model, Elmahdy and Briggs [8] used a linear

relation of the following form between the humidity ratio of saturated air and the

corresponding fin surface temperature

(2.1)

where and are constants determined from fin base and fin tip conditions.
Using the above relation, Elmahdy and Briggs [8] determined numerically the
efficiency of constant thickness circular and longitudinal fins under fully wet conditions.
Later on, various research works [9-34, 52] were done by using the above linear model.
Wu and Bong [9] provided closed form expressions for the efficiency of a straight fin
under both fully wet and partially wet conditions. Their results showed that there was not
much change in the fin efficiency with the variation of the relative humidity of the ambient
air for fully wet fin, but for partially wet condition, relative humidity showed a significant
effect on the fin efficiency. A partially wet fin assembly of straight fins with rectangular
cross-section was examined analytically by Salah El-Din [10]. It was established that
partially wet surface results if the fin is short and for low relative humidity condition.

Fins enhance the rate of heat transfer to or from a primary surface but simultaneously
they increase the weight and the pumping power of the fluid to pass through the fins. Thus,
it is necessary to find the optimized structure of fins so that better fin performance are
obtained under the given space, weight or cost constraints. The optimum dimensions for a
fin of given profile can be obtained either by maximizing the heat transfer rate for a given
fin volume or by minimizing the fin volume for a given heat transfer rate. Performance
parameter analysis and optimization analysis of fully wet longitudinal fins with triangular
and trapezoidal profiles were carried out analytically by Kundu [11]. For the optimization
analysis, an approach based on the Lagrange multiplier technique was adopted and the
results are presented by maximization of heat transfer rate for a given fin volume. From the
analysis, it was concluded that optimum wet fins transfer more heat and require larger
thickness to length ratio than that of dry fins of the same fin volume. Kundu and Das [12]
presented a generalized analytical technique based on Frobenius power series expansion
for determining the temperature distribution and fin performance of fully wet longitudinal,

10
annular and pin fins, having both trapezoidal and triangular profiles. It was found that the
efficiency of wet longitudinal fin with trapezoidal profile was found to be higher than its
counterpart having triangular profile. Further, by using the Lagrange multiplier technique,
some design curves are generated to determine the optimum dimensions when the fin
volume is specified. Sharqawy and Zubair [13] presented closed form analytical solutions
for the efficiency of a fully wet annular fin. The analysis showed that the fin efficiency
under wet condition can be obtained by multiplying the dry fin efficiency by some
correction factor and a chart was presented in graphical form as functions of the fin base
and dew point temperatures for determining this correction factor. Certain regression
equations (based on analytical solution) were developed to calculate the optimum fin
geometry when the fin volume or the heat transfer rate was specified. The above analysis
has been repeated by the same authors for straight [14] and pin [15] fins of rectangular,
triangular, convex parabolic and concave parabolic profiles. Longitudinal and pin fins of
uniform thickness under both fully wet and partially wet conditions were analyzed in a
comparative way by Kundu [16]. An important conclusion that was found from the
analysis was that a longitudinal fin gives higher efficiency than the corresponding pin fin.
It is known that the amount of heat transfer near the fin tip is very small. Though a tapered
profile fin requires less amount of fin material, but it may not applicable to all heat
exchange applications, probably, owing to its typical geometry and cost. Hence a uniform
cross-sectional fin with a step reduction in local cross-section (SRC) may not only result in
more effective utilization of fin material but also promotes ease of fabrication.
Performance of longitudinal and pin fins of SRC profile was studied analytically by Kundu
[17] under fully dry, fully wet and partially wet conditions. An optimum design parameter
analysis was also carried out by using the Lagrange multiplier technique and a comparison
between SRC fins and the uniform cross-section (UC) fins showed that the optimum SRC
fins transfers more heat than the UC fin of identical volume. An annular fin with a step
change in the local fin thickness called annular stepped fin (ASF) was analyzed by Kundu
[18] under both fully and partially wet conditions. A parametric study was done on the
temperature distribution and fin efficiency; and the optimum design parameters of an ASF
are presented by maximizing the heat transfer rate for a given fin volume. Further, a
comparative study of an ASF with an annular fin of the same volume showed that the
optimum ASF transfers more heat than the annular fin. In actual practices, the analysis of
both fins and the base surface are necessary. Analysis of a fin assembly is more
complicated than the analysis of individual fins since more parameters are involved.

11
Kundu and Barman [19] determined the thermal performance and optimum dimensions of
a fin assembly of concentric circular fins of trapezoidal profile under both fully wet and
partially wet conditions by using the Frobenius Power series method. In another work,
Sabbaghi et.al [20] determined closed form analytical solutions for the efficiency of a fully
wet semi-spherical fin. Sharqawy et.al [21] provided numerical solutions for the efficiency
of annular fins of rectangular, triangular, concave parabolic and convex parabolic profiles
under both fully and partially wet conditions. This analysis was extended by the
Moinuddin et. al [22] to determine the optimum fin dimensions of the various profiles.
From the comparative study of the various fin profiles, an important conclusion was that
the rectangular fin profile gives the least heat transfer rate for a given fin volume compared
to the other profiles. Pashah el al [23] developed closed form analytical solutions for the
efficiency of hyperbolic annular fins under both fully and partially wet conditions, The
analytical solutions were compared with that obtained from a numerical solution using
actual non-linear psychometric correlations of an air-water vapour mixture and the two
results were found to agree very well with each other.

In the last decade, heat transfer through porous fins has become an emerging area of
research. Due to the presence of pores, the effective thermal conductivity reduces but this
effect is counteracted by the simultaneous increase in the effective surface area for
convection and thereby resulting in improved heat transfer. Porous fins under
dehumidifying conditions was first analyzed theoretically by Hatami and Ganji [24]. The
Least square method was used for determining the temperature distribution and efficiency
of fully wet circular Aluminum porous fins having rectangular, triangular and convex
cross-sections. The main conclusion was that the rectangular profile results in a greater
efficiency than the other two profiles. The thermal conductivity of metals is not constant
and it may increase or decrease with the rise in temperature. Though the thermal
conductivity varies non-linearly with temperature, but a linear variation is used as an
approximate assumption in many analyses. Also, the convective heat transfer coefficient is
not uniform over the surface. The convective heat transfer coefficient is a complex
parameter and it depends upon a number of physical parameters such as fin geometry,
properties of the fluid, nature of the surface etc. Hatami et al. [25] considered a linear
variation of fin material thermal conductivity with temperature and a power law variation
of convective heat transfer coefficient with fin surface temperature as given below for
analysing semi-spherical porous fins

12
(2.2)

(2.3)
The above temperature dependent relations were also employed in [26, 27, 31-34] for
analyzing wet porous fins. Aluminum porous pin fins with variable cross-sections
(rectangular, triangular, convex parabolic and concave parabolic sections) under fully wet
condition was analyzed by Vahabzadeh et. Al [26]. Efficiency of such type of fully wet
porous fins was found to be much better than the corresponding fully wet straight porous
fin. Another analytical work done by Turkyilmazoglu [27] on fully wet exponential type of
porous fins showed that the efficiency of the exponential porous wet fins are much better
than that of straight porous wet fins.. Considering both convection and radiation, Khani et
al. [28] determined the heat transfer rate in radial porous fins of rectangular cross-section.

The condensate layer that deposits on the fin surfaces may lead to bridging between
the adjacent fins (in a fine fin array) and also it may cause corrosion in some metallic fins
like Aluminum fins. Hence the fin surface may be coated by some hydrophilic material in
order to prevent the accumulation of the condensate. Such fins which have a coating layer
are called composite fins. Pashad et al. [29] studied the coating layer effect on the thermal
performance of a variable profile composite annular fin under fully wet condition.

In the analyses described till now, a particular fin profile is selected prior to the
investigation and the optimum dimensions are determined either by maximizing the heat
transfer rate for a given fin volume or by minimizing the fin volume for a given heat duty.
Another approach for optimization consists of determining the profile of a fin for a
particular geometry after satisfying the optimality criteria. Though the profile obtained by
this second approach are complex and expensive to manufacture, yet they present the best
effective utilization of material (more heat transfer rate per unit volume). These minimum
profile fins determined from the second approach may be useful in air conditioning
apparatus of automobiles, where reduction in weight and space constraints are of
utmost importance. Using this second approach, Kundu [30] determined the optimum
profiles of longitudinal, annular and pin fins for dry, fully wet and partially wet conditions
by using the variational principle. The optimum profiles were obtained by maximizing the
heat transfer rate and the constraint was either the fin volume or both the fin volume and

13
length. It was found that the optimum profile obtained by considering only the fin volume
as the constraint results in fragile geometry at the fin tip, which poses manufacturing
difficulty. To remove this problem and to restrict the length of the fin, fin length was taken
as an additional constraint along with the fin volume in the optimization analysis.
Considering temperature dependent thermal conductivity and convective heat transfer
coefficient, Huang and Chung [31] presented an algorithm using the conjugate gradient
method (CGM) to determine the optimum shapes of fully wet longitudinal fins and spines
based on the desired fin efficiency and fin volume. The above analysis was repeated by the
same authors [32-34] for estimating the optimum shape for fully and partially wet annular
fins. The same approach was also adopted by Kundu and Lee [35] to determine the
optimum shapes of longitudinal and pin fins under dry, fully wet and partially wet
conditions.

2.2.2 Analyses considering polynomial relationship

A lot of studies have been done by considering a linear variation of the humidity ratio of
saturated air with the corresponding fin surface temperature. But this assumption of linear
relation is approximate only and can be used only if the temperature difference between
the fin base and fin tip is small. The humidity ratio of saturated air adjacent to the fin
surface varies nonlinearly with the corresponding saturation temperature according to the
saturation curve on the psychometric chart. The saturation curve on the psychometric chart
is curvilinear in nature. Many researchers have established this non –linear relation as
quadratic [36, 37, 50, 51], and cubic one [38-49] by using the regression analysis. Coney et
al. [36, 37] were the first researchers to have employed a non-linear quadratic variation of
humidity ratio of saturated air with the corresponding fin surface temperatureand
determined numerically the temperature distribution, fin effectiveness and the condensate
film thickness of a fully wet straight vertical fin with rectangular cross-section in laminar
humid air cross-flow. An important conclusion is that the thermal resistance of the
condensate film can be neglected for relative humidity up to 90% and for dry bulb
temperatures up to 35°C. Liang et.al [38] first developed a more accurate cubic
relationship of the following form between the humidity ratio and saturation temperature

(2.4)

14
where the constants C0, C1, C2 and C3 were determined by using regression analysis for the

temperature range and their values are

[1] respectively.

Since its first usage, the above cubic relationship has been employed by several
authors [39-49]. Naphon [39] analyzed the heat transfer characteristics of an annular fin
numerically under dry, fully wet and partially wet conditions by using the implicit central
difference method. A detailed analysis of the effects of air relative humidity, Biot number,
inlet temperatures of the hot and cold working fluids and the fin dimensions on the
temperature distribution were presented. Performance of fully wet straight fins of
triangular profile was investigated analytically by Kundu et al. [40] whereas Kundu [41]
analyzed a longitudinal fin of straight profile under both fully wet and partially wet
conditions. In both these analyses [40, 41], the results were compared with those obtained
from the previous linear models [12, 14] and significant differences between the two
results were observed. However the difference between the two models was found to
decrease with the decrease in relative humidity of the ambient air and at low relative
humidity, the linear model may be used as a good approximation. Performance parameters
of fully wet annular fins of rectangular and triangular profiles were determined and
analyzed by Kundu and Barman [42] by using the Differential transform method. Also, the
optimum design parameters were presented by maximizing the heat transfer rate for a
constraint fin volume and by employing the Lagrange Multiplier technique. A comparative
study of the temperature distribution and performance parameters of a fully wet
rectangular fin assembly with Sharqawy and Zubair’s [14] linear model for a wide range of
the thermo-physical, geometric and psychometric parameters was done by Kundu and
Miyara [43]. . Considering temperature dependent thermal conductivity of the fin material
and convective heat transfer coefficient as given by (2.2) and (2.4) respectively, Kundu
and Lee [44] determined the thermal performance of fully wet straight fins of rectangular,
triangular, convex and exponential profiles. Further an optimum design parameter analysis
was done by maximizing the heat transfer rate for a given fin volume .From the
optimization study, it was concluded that for the same fin volume and the same design
conditions, the exponential profile fin produced the largest maximum heat transfer rate but
it was very close to that of the triangular profile. Considering temperature dependent

15
thermal conductivity of the fin material, Kundu et al. [45] analyzed the thermal
performance of exponential fins under fully wet surface conditions.
Using the second approach of optimization, Kundu [46] determined the optimum
profile shape of longitudinal fins under both fully and partially wet conditions by
minimizing the fin volume for a constraint heat duty. It was found that the optimum profile
shape varies with the variation of thermo-physical parameters and psychometric
parameters. The same analysis was repeated by Kundu and Lee [47] for pin fins under dry,
fully wet and partially wet conditions. Considering temperature dependent heat transfer
coefficient as given by (2.3), Kundu and Lee [48] determined the optimum profile of
longitudinal fins under both fully and partially wet conditions. A convergent optimum
profile shape was found for constant heat transfer coefficient and also, for variable heat
transfer coefficient with a decreasing function along the length of the fin . The same authors
[49] compared the optimum profile shape of fully wet longitudinal fins with that obtained
from the linear model [30] and significant differences were noticed.

2.3 Two dimensional theoretical investigations on Wet fins

All the literature summarized above considered one dimensional heat conduction model.
But this one dimension heat conduction model is valid only if Biot number in the thickness
direction is very less than 0.1. Chen [50] developed a two dimensional theoretical model
for the analysis of fully wet straight fins of rectangular profile and it was found that the
overall fin efficiency obtained from this analysis was lower than that of the McQuiston’s
one dimensional model. Liang et.al [38] presented a comparative analysis of wet fin
efficiency between a one dimensional analytical model and a two dimensional numerical
model of a longitudinal fin with rectangular cross-section. For the analysis, the thermal
resistance of the condensate layer was taken into consideration by assuming that the heat
transfer across the condensate layer was by conduction. It was found that the one
dimensional analytical model showed a reasonably good agreement with the two
dimensional numerical model at low air velocity. But at higher air velocity, the deviation
in the results between the one dimensional analytical model and the two dimensional
numerical model cannot be ignored. Lin and Jang [51] demonstrated a numerical two
dimensional fin efficiency analysis of an elliptic fin under dry, fully wet and partially wet
conditions .A comparison of the results with the corresponding circular fin having the
same perimeter showed that elliptic fin efficiencies are up to 4–8% greater than the

16
corresponding circular fin efficiencies. Performance and optimization analysis of a fully
wet rectangular fin considering two dimensional heat conduction was done by Kundu and
Lee [52]. This two dimensional analysis may sometimes become complicated.
Alternatively, a relatively simple modified one dimensional model was developed, where a
coupled integral approach was used to approximate the two dimensional equation across
the fin cross section as a one dimensional equation. An important conclusion was that at
low values of Biot number and thickness to length ratio, the deviation of the results of the
one dimensional model from that of the two dimensional model and modified one
dimensional model is negligible. But this deviation increases as the values of Biot number
or thickness to length ratio increases.

2.4 A survey of constructal fins of various shapes

Recently the application of constructal theory [53] for geometric optimization of fins has
emerged as an important area of research. Constructal design is the principle of
maximization of global performance subject to global constraints in systems that are free to
morph. The constructal optimization of paths for internal currents was first proposed by
Bejan [53] in the context of pure heat conduction, with application to the cooling of heat
generating devices. This problem [53] consisted of a finite size volume generating heat
volumetrically, which is being cooled through a heat sink located on one side and a finite
amount of high conductivity material is available. The application of the constructal
method to this problem showed that the optimized architecture had a tree-shaped structure
formed by high-conductivity material and the rest of the material fills the interstices, and
generates heat at every point of the given volume. This constructal design method was
extended to three dimensional conductive and convective circular fins by Alebrahim and
Bejan [54]. Bejan and Almogbel [55] carried out constructal optimization of T-shaped fins
losing heat to the ambient by combination of conduction and convection. The optimization
was done by maximizing the global thermal conductance subjected to total volume and fin
material constraints. It was found that the thermal performance of optimized T shaped fin
was much better than that of longitudinal fin. Also, Tau shaped fins showed only a slight
decrease in global thermal conductance relative to their T-shaped counterparts but Tau-
shaped fins filled the allocated space in a better way. A tree-like fin was optimized by
using the same constructal design method by Almogbel [56]. Heat transfer rate for
optimum tree shaped fin (with two levels of branching) was higher than the optimum T-

17
shaped fin that filled the same volume and used the same amount of fin material. The
performance of tree-shaped fin increased as the number of pairs of branches was increased.
However, this improvement in performance reached a point, where more geometric
complexity was not justified by the corresponding little gain of performance. Considering
two dimensional heat conduction, Lorenzini and Rocha [57] carried out a numerical work
on the minimization of the global thermal resistance of the Y-shaped fins by constructal
optimization method and the results showed that the the thermal resistance of the
optimized Y-shaped fin was smaller than that for the T-shaped fins. The same authors [58]
considered a T–Y shaped fin by inserting a cavity between the two branches of T-shaped
fin, and the constructal optimization showed that smaller cavity volume and larger fin
volume improved the performance. Constructal optimization of the twice Y-shaped
assemblies of fins was performed by Hui et al. [59] and it was found that thermal
resistance of the optimized twice Y-shaped assemblies of fins decreased by 36.37%
compared to that of optimized once Y-shaped assembly of fins. Thus, it was proved again
that as the number of freedom degrees increases, the better will be the system performance.
Kundu and Bhanja [60] established an analytical model for thermal performance and
optimization of a T-shaped fin subjected to variable thermal conductivity of fin material
and variable convective heat transfer coefficient. Working on the same shape but
considering porous surface, Bhanja and Kundu [61] predicted the temperature distribution
and performance parameters of a T-shaped fin. A performance parameter analysis and
optimization analysis of a constructal T-shaped fin exposed to both convective and
radiative environment and considering variable thermal conductivity and heat transfer
coefficient was presented by Bhanja and Kundu [62]. Chen et al [63] did the constructal
optimization of a T-shaped assembly with entransy dissipation rate minimization as the
objective function. Numerical optimization of T-shaped assemblies of fins cooling a
cylindrical solid body with internal heat generation was done by Lorengini et al. [64] by
using the constructal theory. When number of fins is equal to 1 or 2, the optimal
configuration proved to be the one with slender tributaries and thicker stem. However,
when the number of fins in the assembly exceeded 2, the optimized configuration had
slender stems and shorter tributaries. Constructal design of helm shaped fin with internal
heat sources by considering the minimization of the thermal resistance or minimization of
entransy dissipation rate as objective function was done in [ 65-67]. Yang et al. [68],
designed a heat sink with circular pin fins by the constructal design by maximizing the heat
transfer rate from the heat sink under fixed heat sink and fin material volumes. On the

18
other hand, Chen et al. [69] used the entropy generation minimization method in
association with the constructal theory to optimize the heat sink with circular pin fins. It
was concluded from the analysis that there is no quadratic optimal constructs for the heat
sink by taking Minimum Entropy Generation Rate (MEGR) as the objective and less
MEGR can be obtained by choosing more fin-material fraction, the lower fluid velocity
and the smaller aspect ratio of the heat sink in allowed range. Biserni et al [70] considered
T-shaped fins cooling a trapezoidal solid body with internal heat generation and used the
constructal theory along with the exhaustive search and genetic algorithm to determine the
optimum geometric dimensions of the assembly whereas Mustafa [71] maximized the heat
transfer density rate from a multi-scale diamond-shaped pin fins cooled by mixed
convection under fixed pressure drop based on constructal design. In another work,
Hajabdollahi et al. [72] used the constructal theory along with the Particle Swarm
optimization technique to carry out the multi-objective optimization of an array of fork-
shaped fins and rectangular fins attached to a cylinder. It was concluded from the analysis
that when the number of branches increases, the rate of heat transfer increases when the fin
material was constant, which supports the concept of constructal theory Very few works
were reported on constructal fins subjected to simultaneous heat and mass transfer.
Hazarika et al. [73] determined the performance and optimum design parameters of a
constructal T-shaped fin operating under dehumidifying conditions. In a very recent work,
Das and Kundu [74] carried out geometric optimization of T-shaped fin under both dry and
wet condition by employing the modified differential evolution (MDE) search algorithm.

2.5 Analysis of fins using different semi-analytical techniques

Most physical problems related to fins can be modeled by non-linear ordinary or partial
differential equations and this non-linearity becomes more when variable thermal
parameters such as variable thermal conductivity, variable heat transfer coefficient,
variable emissivity, variable heat generation, etc are considered. Hence, as the non-
linearity of the problem becomes more, getting an exact solution becomes either
impossible or cumbersome. As such, much attention has been devoted to construct
approximate analytic solutions of these nonlinear equations. Over the years, a number of
semi analytical techniques like Adomian decomposition method (ADM), Variational
Iteration methods (VIM), Differential Transform Method (DTM), Homotopy Analysis
Method, Collocation method, Homotopy Perturbation Method (HPM), etc have been

19
developed and these techniques have been widely used by various researchers to solve the
non-linear governing equations of fins. All these techniques give the analytical solution as
summation of an infinite number of terms. In many cases, if an exact solution exists for a
given problem, then the obtained infinite series converges to that exact solution. But for
non-linear problems, where a closed form solution is not possible, a truncated number of
terms are used for the solution.

The Adomian Decomposition Method (ADM) developed by George Adomian [75,

76], is a semi analytical method that can provide convenient solutions to a wide range of
linear or nonlinear, ordinary or partial differential equations as well as delay and integral
equations. ADM does not impose any linearization, perturbation or discretization and leads
to the convergent solutions rapidly. Chiu and Chen [77] used ADM to solve the governing
equations of a convective rectangular fin with variable thermal conductivity. The results
obtained by using ADM were compared with that obtained from a numerical scheme,
based on Finite difference scheme and the difference between the two results was found to
be less than 0.2%. Considering temperature dependent heat transfer coefficient, Chang [78]
and Lesnic and Heggs [79] used the same decomposition method to analyze straight fin
with uniform cross-section. This decomposition technique was also used to solve the
highly non-linear governing equations of constructal T-shaped solid fins [60, 62], T-shaped
porous fins [61], hyperbolic annular fin [80] and stepped fin [81]. Another analytical
technique that can effectively, easily and accurately solve a large class of non-linear
problems is the Differential Transform Method, proposed by Zhou [82]. This method was
used by Joneidi et al [83] to analyze convective straight fins with temperature-dependent
thermal conductivity. Considering both convection and radiation, Mosayebidorcheh and
Mosayebidorcheh [84] carried out a comparative study between DTM and VIM for the
analysis of a convective radiative fin with temperature dependent thermal conductivity.
When compared with the numerical solution, DTM was found to be more accurate than
VIM. This transformation technique was used to study the heat transfer through porous fin
of different profiles [85, 86], pin fins of various profiles [87], annular stepped fins [88],
wet triangular fins [40], wet annular fins [42] and wet exponential fins [45]. A comparative
study done by Hassan [89] between DTM and ADM explained the advantages and
disadvantages of both these methods. Another analytical technique called Variational
Iteration Method (VIM) [90] was used by Atay and Coskun [91] to study the temperature
distribution in longitudinal fins with temperature dependent heat transfer coefficient. The

20
same authors [92] also analyzed convective straight fins with temperature dependent
thermal conductivity by using both ADM and VIM. A comparison of the results with that
obtained from Finite element analysis showed that VIM produced better results than ADM.
Ndlovu and Moitsheki [93] used the same technique to determine the temperature
distribution of radial moving fins of hyperbolic and rectangular profiles with temperature
dependent thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient. Torabi et al [94] carried out a
comparative study of ADM, DTM and VIM with the numerical solution for a radiative
radial fin with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity. It was found from the analysis
that DTM showed a greater accuracy than ADM and VIM. The Homotopy Perturbation
Method (HPM) [95], which is a combination of homotopy in topology and classic
perturbation technique, provides approximate analytic solutions for a wide variety of
problems arising in different fields. Rajabi [96] used HPM to obtain the temperature
distribution of convective straight fins with rectangular profile. Roy et al [97] analyzed
convective radial fins with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity by using HPM.
The results were compared with that obtained from ADM, VIM, DTM and numerical
scheme and it was found that HPM was more accurate than VIM and ADM but slightly
less accurate than DTM. Roy and Mallick [98] determined the temperature distribution of a
straight fin using HPM and compared the results with that obtained by using ADM and
numerical scheme. HPM was also used for the thermal analysis of porous fins by various
researchers [99, 100]. Ganji and Sadighi [101] compared the solutions of HPM and VIM
with the exact solution for various non-linear heat transfer problems and it was found than
VIM was slightly more accurate than HPM.

2.6 Optimization algorithms

Optimization is an indispensable part of engineering design and there exist a diverse range
of algorithms for optimization. There exists not a single optimization algorithm that can
effectively solve all optimization problems. One of the most widely used deterministic
algorithms is the Lagrange multiplier technique [102], which is a gradient based technique
for constrained optimization problems with equality constraints. Aziz [103] used the
method of Lagrange multipliers to determine the optimum dimensions of a convecting
rectangular fin with a step change in cross-sectional area. The same method was used to
find the optimum dimensions of convective straight taper fins [104], elliptic fins [105],
convective-radiative rectangular straight porous fin [106, 107], convective straight porous

21
fin of rectangular, convex and exponential profiles [108], convective-radiative moving
porous fin [109], convective T-shaped fin [60], porous T-shaped fin [61], convective-
radiative T-shaped fin [62]. This technique has also been used for finding the optimum
dimensions of wet fins of various profiles [16-19, 42, 44]. In all the above problems,
optimization was done by maximization of the heat transfer rate subjected to only one
equality constraint, i.e., the fin volume and hence the Lagrange multiplier method was
successful in determining the optimum point. But if the objective function becomes
discontinuous or if the imposed constraints become more, this Lagrange multiplier
technique becomes cumbersome and it fails to give the solution within a reasonable
amount of time. Another disadvantage of the Lagrangian method is that for multimodal
problems, they converge only locally.

Metaheuristics techniques seem to be superior in solving multimodal and complex

optimization problems, specifically where the deterministic methods fail. One subset of
metaheuristic optimization is the swarm intelligence (SI) algorithms. The Particle Swarm
Optimization (PSO), developed by Kennedy and Eberhart in 1995 [110], has emerged as a
simple, efficient and robust technique for solving complex non-linear engineering
optimization problem. Since its inception in 1995, research and application interest in PSO
have increased and over the years, several variants of the original PSO algorithm has been
developed, which can effectively solve constrained, multi-objective as well as dynamic
optimization problems. To improve the performance of PSO, researchers developed
different variants of the PSO algorithm such as introducing new parameters like inertia
weight [111, 112] and constriction coefficient [113], and developing different boundary
conditions [114]. An overview of the various modifications of the PSO algorithm was
presented by Imran et al. [115]. PSO has also been successfully applied to solve a wide
number of problems related to the area of heat transfer [116-120]. Sadeghzadeh et al.
[116] carried out a techno-economic optimization of a shell-and tube heat exchanger and
found PSO’s performance to be better than Genetic algorithm (GA). Thermodynamic
optimizations of plate fin heat exchangers were done in [117-119] by considering either the
minimization of the number of entropy generation units or minimization of the total
volume or minimization of the total cost as the objective function. In another work,
Soleimani et al. [120] determined the optimum positions of a pair heat source-sink in an
enclosure by considering the minimization of the maximum temperature as the objective
function. A comparison of the results obtained by PSO with that obtained by GA showed a

22
higher convergence rate of PSO. Another comparative study between GA and PSO was
done by Azarkish et al. [121] for the geometric optimization of longitudinal fins.
Hamadneh et al. [122] determined the optimum geometry of pin fins having square,
circular, and elliptical cross-sections by taking the entropy generation minimization as the
objective. Using the same PSO algorithm, Azimifar and Payan [123] obtained the optimum
sizes and positions of thin fins in a square cavity whereas Dastmalchi et al. [124]
determined the optimal micro-fin geometry which maximizes the thermal efficiency of
micro-finned tubes in double pipe heat exchangers.

Recently another new SI algorithm called Firefly Algorithm was developed by Yang
et al. [125] in 2008 by taking inspiration from the flashing behavior of fireflies. Yang [126]
compared the performance of GA, PSO and FA for the optimization of 10 standard
benchmark functions and found FA to be more efficient (required less no. of function
evaluations) than the other two. Another comparative study between FA and PSO was
done by Lukasik and Zak [127] for 14 different benchmark functions. It was found that for
some benchmark functions, PSO outperformed FA but reverse was the case for the other
benchmark functions. In order to improve its performance, various modifications were
done in the original FA. A detailed review of FA and its variants was presented by Fister et
al. [128]. Khosravi et al. [129] examined the optimization performances of GA, FA and
Cuckoo Search Method for the design of shell and tube heat exchangers. In another work,
Mohanty [130] used the Firefly Algorithm for design and economic optimization of shell
and tube heat exchangers by taking minimization of the total cost as the objective function.
Recently, Petinrina et al. [131] used FA to optimize shell-and-tube heat exchangers for
crude oil pre-heat train by minimizing the entropy generation rate.

2.7 Research gaps

From the above literature survey, it is clear that a lot of studies were done on fins of
various profiles and geometries under simultaneous heat and mass transfer. The
importance and the need for more efficient evaporators for air –cooling and
dehumidification have already been explained in the previous chapter. In order to improve
the performance, researchers are constantly trying to modify the design of fin shapes,
changing the shape from the simple rectangular to stepped type as well as adopting more
complex profiles such as parabolic, hyperbolic, exponential profiles, etc. Also, the

23
literature reviewed in Section 2.5 showed that the application of constructal theory for fin
design have resulted in fins with improved performance. But all these fin design problems
using constructal theory was limited to fins subjected to sensible heat transfer only, i.e.,
with application to cooling of heat generating devices. Very few works were reported on
constructal fins under simultaneous heat and mass transfer conditions [73, 74]. Also, most
of the optimization works on constructal fins were done by employing the exhaustive
search technique but this exhaustive search technique becomes computationally expensive

when the degrees of freedom of the system or the system variables becomes more.
Recently, the meta-heuristic optimization techniques have emerged as very powerful tools
for optimization as they have the ability to produce nearly optimum results in a reasonable
amount of time. A very few works [70, 72, 74] are reported on constructal design of fins
using the meta-heuristic optimization algorithms.

2.8 Objectives of the work

Based on the above mentioned research gaps, the main motive of the present work is to
design and analyze different constructal fins under simultaneous heat and mass transfer.
The objectives are formulated as:
1. To analyze the effect of various geometric, thermo-physical and psychometric
parameters on the temperature distribution and performance parameters of Constructal
T-shaped and Fork-shaped fins under
 Fully wet conditions
 Partially wet conditions
2. Geometric optimization of the above fins by maximizing the heat transfer rate and by
using the traditional and Meta-heuristic optimization algorithms
3. To carry out the above analysis by considering both the linear and cubic models
between the humidity ratio of saturated air and the corresponding fin surface
temperature

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