Design Modification Investigation of a Concept Heat Exchanger for Better Efficiency through Thermal Simulation

2013 ◽  
Vol 631-632 ◽  
pp. 1026-1031
Author(s):  
Tousif Ahmed ◽  
Md. Abu Abrar ◽  
Md. Tanjin Amin

Thermal flow simulation can be used to study the fluid flow and heat transfer for a wide variety of engineering equipment. Flow simulations with the advent of computer architectures with superfast processing capabilities are rapidly emerging as an attractive alternative to conventional thermal flow analysis which is either too restrictive or expensive. In thermodynamic applications, increase of thermal efficiency of heat exchangers (i.e. radiators, cooling towers, condensers, intercoolers) is essential for compact design and improving whole cycle efficiency thus improving economic viability of the system. This paper outlines the process taken to optimize the geometry of conventional heat exchanger. Models were drawn into Solidworks and a computational domain was created. Solidworks Thermal Simulation was used to iterate toward a converged solution with the goal of obtaining a better efficiency of the heat exchanger. The results are analyzed and compared between two differently designed heat exchangers to find out the improvements. These practices were detailed in hopes that further research would use the ground work laid out in this paper to redesign existing heat exchangers.

Author(s):  
Suneel Nagar ◽  
Ajay Singh ◽  
Deepak Patel

The objective of this study is to provide modern analytical and empirical tools for evaluation of the thermal-flow performance or design of air-cooled heat exchangers (ACHE) and cooling towers. This review consist various factors which effect the performance of ACHE. We introduced systematically to the literature, theory, and practice relevant to the performance evaluation and design of industrial cooling. Its provide better understanding of the performance characteristics of a heat exchanger, effectiveness can be improved in different operating conditions .The total cost of cycle can be reduced by increasing the effectiveness of heat exchanger.


2010 ◽  
Vol 297-301 ◽  
pp. 960-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Michel Hugo ◽  
Emmanuel Brun ◽  
Frédéric Topin ◽  
Jérôme Vicente

This numerical study focuses on the determination of macroscopic (effective) properties from pore scale calculation. These results will be applied to heat exchangers design. The computational domain -representative of heat exchanger section- is a parallelepiped filled with metallic foam, heated on one face and crossed by a forced fluid flow. Conjugate heat transfer and fluid flow are computed using finite volume approach on the actual solid matrix and pore space topology obtained from X-ray tomograms. Calculated heat transfer coefficient and flow law parameters are in good agreement with literature data. An active foam length is defined and measured in order to provide optimal design characteristic for foamed heat exchanger.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirine Chtourou ◽  
Hassene Djemel ◽  
Mohamed Kaffel ◽  
Mounir Baccar

AbstractThis study presents a numerical analysis of a laminar counter flow inside small channels plate heat exchanger fitted with Y and C shape obstacles. Using the Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD, an advanced and modern simulation technique, the influence of the geometrical parameters (such as geometry, rib pitch) on the flow characteristics, the thermal and the hydrodynamics performance of the PHE (plate heat exchanger) is investigated numerically. The main goal of this work is to increase the flow turbulence, enhance the heat transfer and the thermal efficiency by inserting new obstacles forms. The computational domain is a conjugate model which is developed by the Computer Aided Design CAD software Solidworks. The results, obtained with Ansys Fluent, show that the presence of the shaped ribs provides enhancement in heat transfer and fluid turbulence. The CFD analysis is validated with the previous study. The non-dimensional factors such as the Nusselt number Nu, the skin friction factor Cf and the thermo-hydraulic performance parameter THPP are predicted with a Reynolds number Re range of 200–800. The temperature and the velocity distribution are presented and analyzed. The Y ribs and the C ribs offer as maximum THPP values respectively about 1.44 and 2.6 times of a smooth duct.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiuyi Liu ◽  
Caifu Qian ◽  
Huifang Li

Thermal stress is an important factor influencing the strength of a heat exchanger tubesheet. Some studies have indicated that, even in floating-head or U-tube heat exchangers, the thermal stress at the tubesheet is significant in magnitude. For exploring the value, distribution, and the influence factors of the thermal stress at the tubesheet of these kind heat exchangers, a tubesheet and triangle arranged tubes with the tube diameter of 25 mm were numerically analyzed. Specifically, the thermal stress at the tubesheet center is concentrated and analyzed with changing different parameters of the tubesheet, such as the temperature difference between tube-side and shell-side fluids, tubesheet diameter, thickness, and the tube-hole area ratio. It is found that the thermal stress of the tubesheet of floating-head or U-tube heat exchanger was comparable in magnitude with that produced by pressures, and the distribution of the thermal stress depends on the tube-hole area and the temperature inside the tubes. The thermal stress at the center of the tubesheet surface is high when tube-hole area ratio is very low. And with increasing the tube-hole area ratio, the stress first decreases rapidly and then increases linearly. A formula was numerically fitted for calculating the thermal stress at the tubesheet surface center which may be useful for the strength design of the tubesheet of floating-head or U-tube heat exchangers when considering the thermal stress. Numerical tests show that the fitted formula can meet the accuracy requirements for engineering applications.


2012 ◽  
Vol 629 ◽  
pp. 699-703
Author(s):  
Chun Sheng Guo ◽  
Wen Jing Du ◽  
Lin Cheng

The entransy loss minimization approach for the heat exchanger optimization design was established by Guo Z Y; the study based Guo Z Y’s works, found relationship between the entransy loss uniformity and the heat exchanger performance and the expression of the local entransy loss rate for heat convection was derived, numerical results of the heat transfer in a chevron plate heat exchanger and helix baffle heat exchanger show that the larger entransy loss uniformity factor appear in about Re=2000 and the entransy loss uniformity factor of chevron plate heat exchanges higher than helix baffle one.


Author(s):  
H. Zabiri ◽  
V. R. Radhakrishnan ◽  
M. Ramasamy ◽  
N. M. Ramli ◽  
V. Do Thanh ◽  
...  

The Crude Preheat Train (CPT) is a set of large heat exchangers which recover the waste heat from product streams back to preheat the crude oil. The overall heat transfer coefficient in these heat exchangers may be significantly reduced due to fouling. One of the major impacts of fouling in CPT operation is the reduced heat transfer efficiency. The objective of this paper is to develop a predictive model using statistical methods which can a priori predict the rate of the fouling and the decrease in heat transfer efficiency in a heat exchanger in a crude preheat train. This predictive model will then be integrated into a preventive maintenance diagnostic tool to plan the cleaning of the heat exchanger to remove the fouling and bring back the heat exchanger efficiency to their peak values. The fouling model was developed using historical plant operating data and is based on Neural Network. Results show that the predictive model is able to predict the shell and tube outlet temperatures with excellent accuracy, where the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) obtained is less than 1%, correlation coefficient R2 of approximately 0.98 and Correct Directional Change (CDC) values of more than 90%. A preliminary case study shows promising indication that the predictive model may be integrated into a preventive maintenance scheduling for the heat exchanger cleaning.


Author(s):  
Xiaofeng Yang ◽  
Saurabh Gupta ◽  
Tang-Wei Kuo ◽  
Venkatesh Gopalakrishnan

A comparative cold flow analysis between Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) and large eddy simulation (LES) cycle-averaged velocity and turbulence predictions is carried out for a single cylinder engine with a transparent combustion chamber (TCC) under motored conditions using high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements as the reference data. Simulations are done using a commercial computationally fluid dynamics (CFD) code CONVERGE with the implementation of standard k-ε and RNG k-ε turbulent models for RANS and a one-equation eddy viscosity model for LES. The following aspects are analyzed in this study: The effects of computational domain geometry (with or without intake and exhaust plenums) on mean flow and turbulence predictions for both LES and RANS simulations. And comparison of LES versus RANS simulations in terms of their capability to predict mean flow and turbulence. Both RANS and LES full and partial geometry simulations are able to capture the overall mean flow trends qualitatively; but the intake jet structure, velocity magnitudes, turbulence magnitudes, and its distribution are more accurately predicted by LES full geometry simulations. The guideline therefore for CFD engineers is that RANS partial geometry simulations (computationally least expensive) with a RNG k-ε turbulent model and one cycle or more are good enough for capturing overall qualitative flow trends for the engineering applications. However, if one is interested in getting reasonably accurate estimates of velocity magnitudes, flow structures, turbulence magnitudes, and its distribution, they must resort to LES simulations. Furthermore, to get the most accurate turbulence distributions, one must consider running LES full geometry simulations.


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