Liquid crystal thermography and pressure drop measurements have been carried out to study the heat transfer and frictional characteristics in a rectangular duct with solid ribs (C1), converging slit-ribs (C2), and alternate solid-slit ribs (C3) mounted transversely on the bottom wall, where C2 carries a continuous converging-slit in the flow direction. Effect of rib configurations, and rib pitch to height ratios (6, 8, 10, and 12) has been investigated at Re of 9400, 26160, 42500, and 58850. Results show that converging-slit considerably enhances the heat transfer rate in the downstream vicinity, and help in obviating the local hot spot formation.Abbreviations: LCT: Liquid crystal thermography; HTC: Heat transfer coefficient; LHI: Laser holographic interferometry; NST: Naphthalene sublimation technique; IR: Infrared; TPF: Thermo-hydraulic performance; PIV: Particle image velocimetry.