Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in Plate Fin Heat Exchangers: A Numerical Approach
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
An apparatus for transferring thermal energy across an impermeable barrier between two or more fluids is a heat exchanger. The effective transmission of heat from a hot fluid to a cold fluid is its primary goal. The temperature differential between the two fluids directly affects this heat transfer. Using CFD study with FLUENT 2020 R1, the performance characteristics of the compact plate fin heat exchanger's improved surfaces are examined. The simulation of heat transfer and flow encompassed a variety of velocities including completely turbulent regions. The pressure, temperature, and velocity contours were taken from the Fluent simulations. To determine the heat exchanger's flow and heat transfer performance, numerical analysis has been done. Since boundary conditions are crucial to CFD, they have been carefully chosen. The flow field, heat transfer, thickness, and wavelength were all predicted using the software code for a range of air to water velocities. Three distinct wavelengths of numerical simulations for a plate-fin heat exchanger were used in the study (10, 20, and 30). There were changes to the fin thickness, entry locations, and air and water entry velocities. SolidWorks and Ansys were used to create the geometry for the three-level fin models that were placed inside the heat exchanger, both with and without a cover. For determining the heat exchanger's geometry and fin isometry, three levels measuring 19.6 mm in height and 53.64 mm in width were constructed. The fins have a thickness of 0.2 to 0.4 mm. As the air and water velocities vary, so does the temperature inside the heat exchanger. Because the topmost layer is a warm stream's flow channel, the temperature rises there, whereas the opposite effect is seen close to the bottom layer. Convection heat transmission to the surroundings and conduction heat transfer through the heat exchanger's side plates are the causes of fluid temperature fluctuations in the depth direction.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Licensed under a CC-BY license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
How to Cite
References
Fehle, R., J. Klas, and F. Mayinger. "Investigation of local heat transfer in compact heat exchangers by holographic interferometry." Experimental thermal and fluid science 10.2 (1995): 181-191.
Ranganayakulu, Ch, K. N. Seetharamu, and K. V. Sreevatsan. "The effects of longitudinal heat conduction in compact plate-fin and tube-fin heat exchangers using a finite element method." International journal of heat and mass transfer40.6 (1997): 1261-1277.
Hajabdollahi, Hassan, Mojtaba Tahani, and MH Shojaee Fard. "CFD modeling and multi-objective optimization of compact heat exchanger using CAN method." Applied Thermal Engineering 31.14 (2011): 2597-2604.
Pingaud, H., Le Lann, J. M., Koehret, B., & Bardin, M. C. (1989). Steady-state and dynamic simulation of plate fin heat exchangers. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 13(4), 577-585.
Müller-Menzel, T., and T. Hecht. "Plate-fin heat exchanger performance reduction in special two-phase flow conditions." Cryogenics 35.5 (1995): 297-301.
Dubrovsky, E. V. "Experimental investigation of highly effective plate-fin heat exchanger surfaces." Experimental thermal and fluid science 10.2 (1995): 200-220.
Ranganayakulu, Ch, K. N. Seetharamu, and K. V. Sreevatsan. "The effects of inlet fluid flow nonuniformity on thermal performance and pressure drops in crossflow plate-fin compact heat exchangers." International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 40.1 (1996): 27-38.
Kundu, B., and P. K. Das. "Optimum dimensions of plate fins for fin-tube heat exchangers." International journal of heat and fluid flow 18.5 (1997): 530-537.
Ranganayakulu, Ch, and K. N. Seetharamu. "The combined effects of longitudinal heat conduction, flow nonuniformity and temperature nonuniformity in crossflow plate-fin heat exchangers." International communications in heat and mass transfer 26.5 (1999): 669-678.
Picon-Nunez, M., G. T. Polley, E. Torres-Reyes, and A. Gallegos-Munoz. "Surface selection and design of plate–fin heat exchangers." Applied Thermal Engineering 19, no. 9 (1999): 917-931.
Wen, Jian, and Yanzhong Li. "Study of flow distribution and its improvement on the header of plate-fin heat exchanger." Cryogenics 44.11 (2004): 823-831.
Şahin, B., A. Akkoca, N. A. Öztürk, and H. Akilli. "Investigations of flow characteristics in a plate fin and tube heat exchanger model composed of single cylinder." International journal of heat and fluid flow 27, no. 3 (2006): 522-530.
Peng, Hao, and Xiang Ling. "Optimal design approach for the plate-fin heat exchangers using neural networks cooperated with genetic algorithms." Applied Thermal Engineering 28.5 (2008): 642-650.
Manglik, R. M., & Bergles, A. E. (1995). Heat transfer and pressure drop correlations for the rectangular offset strip fin compact heat exchanger. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 10(2), 171-180.
Mishra, Manish, P. K. Das, and Sunil Sarangi. "Second law based optimisation of crossflow plate-fin heat exchanger design using genetic algorithm." Applied thermal engineering 29.14 (2009): 2983-2989.
Ismail, L. Sheik, Ch Ranganayakulu, and Ramesh K. Shah. "Numerical study of flow patterns of compact plate-fin heat exchangers and generation of design data for offset and wavy fins." International journal of heat and mass transfer52.17 (2009): 3972-3983.
Suzuki, K., E. Hirai, T. Miyake, and T. Sato. "Numerical and experimental studies on a two-dimensional model of an offset-strip-fin type compact heat exchanger used at low Reynolds number." International journal of heat and mass transfer 28, no. 4 (1985): 823-836.
Youcef-Ali, Sabri. "Study and optimization of the thermal performances of the offset rectangular plate fin absorber plates, with various glazing." Renewable Energy 30.2 (2005): 271-280.
Schulte-Fischedick, Jan, Volker Dreißigacker, and Rainer Tamme. "An innovative ceramic high temperature plate-fin heat exchanger for EFCC processes." Applied Thermal Engineering 27.8 (2007): 1285-1294.