Enhancement of Heat Dissipation from the Hydraulic System Using a Finned Adaptive Heat Exchanger

Abstract

The novelty-designed adaptive heat exchanger (AHE) for heat dissipation from the hydraulic system to ambient air has been experimentally investigated. The heated hydraulic oil circulated in rubber hydraulic pipes as working fluid. The heat flow for AHE mounted in the hydraulic circuit was compared with the condition without the AHE. In addition, the contact surfaces of the AHE were coated with a copper-based thermal conductive paste for heat transfer enhancement research. The installation of the AHE in the hydraulic system caused an increase in heat flow by an average of 19.79% compared to the system without AHE, at an oil flow rate of 0.043 kg/s. The AHE with the copper-based thermal conductive paste achieved higher heat flow by an average of 24.93% and 20.49% compared to the circuit without AHE and with AHE, respectively. The installation of the AHE, and AHE with thermal conductive paste, into the hydraulic circuit caused an increase in differences of surface temperatures up to 8.1 °C and 8.3 °C compared to the hydraulic system without AHE. The hydraulic system with AHE achieved 1.3 times and 2.2 times higher the overall heat transfer coefficient compared to the AHE with thermal conductive paste and the system without AHE, respectively. The finned AHE is usable for additional cooling of working fluid (oil, coolant, fuel) in various machines and equipment without the necessity of interrupting the pipelines. Adaptability of the AHE allows it to be mounted on flexible hoses in the required location with the possibility of changing the number of heat exchange segments.