板式换热器性能的数值模拟

建立了人字形板式换热器冷热双流道的流体流动与传热计算模型,利用计算流体力学软件对5组不同速度工况下换热器内流体的流动和传热进行了数值模拟,分析了换热器流道内的速度场、温度场和压力场.结果表明:数值模拟得到的板式换热器进、出口温差和压降与试验测量值的误差均小于6%;换热器内流体的流动和传热存在明显的不均匀性,导致其进、出口的另一侧出现明显的传热"死区";换热器的总传热系数和流道阻力均随着流体流速的增大而增大.     

Influence of Corrugation Profile on the Thermalhydraulic Performance of Cross-Corrugated Plates

This article presents a numerical investigation on the thermalhydraulic performance of cross-corrugated plates, commonly employed in plate and compact heat exchangers. Three-dimensional numerical predictions were obtained using a finite volume method and a validated low Reynolds number k-? turbulence model. The influences of Reynolds number, corrugation inclination angle, and especially corrugation profile on flow and heat transfer were studied and discussed. The velocity, temperature, local Nusselt number distribution, and the path line were presented for cross-corrugated plates with sinusoidal, isosceles triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular, and elliptic corrugations. The average Nusselt number Nu and the friction factor f were calculated and correlated with the Reynolds number. Thermalhydraulic performance was evaluated in terms of the heat transfer and pressure drop. Nu and f are about 1–4 times higher for the trapezoidal channel than for the elliptic channel, indicating significant influence of the corrugation profile. Optimal structures are among those with smooth corrugation shapes and small inclination angles.     

CFD Simulation of Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in Compact Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers

In this paper, the thermal and hydraulic characteristics of corrugated fluid channels of compact brazed plate heat exchangers (BPHE) are investigated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using the commercial CFD software ANSYS CFX 14.0. The influence of geometry parameters of the corrugated pattern such as chevron angle and corrugation pitch on the BPHE performance is investigated on small fluid section geometries. The influence of various types of wall heat transfer boundary conditions on the simulation results is also studied. An entire fluid channel is simulated using various turbulence models in the Reynolds number range of 300 to 3000. The CFD predictions are also validated using data obtained from laboratory experiments. The simulations of the entire fluid channel underpredict heat transfer and pressure drop by 20–30% and 10–35%, respectively. The results from the small fluid sections suggest that the CFD simulations can be used as a reasonably effective tool in determining the relative performance variation of various plate patterns.     

Flow distribution and pressure drop in parallel-channel configurations of planar fuel cells

Parallel-channel configurations for gas-distributor plates of planar fuel cells reduce the pressure drop, but give rise to the problem of severe flow maldistribution wherein some of the channels may be starved of the reactants. This study presents an analysis of the flow distribution through parallel-channel configurations. One-dimensional models based on mass and momentum balance equations in the inlet and exhaust gas headers are developed for Z- and U-type parallel-channel configurations. The resulting coupled ordinary differential equations are solved analytically to obtain closed-form solutions for the flow distribution in the individual channels and for the pressure drop over the entire distributor plate. The models have been validated by comparing the results with those obtained from three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Application of the models to typical fuel-cell distributor plates shows that severe maldistribution of flow may arise in certain cases and that this can be avoided by careful choice of the dimensions of the headers and the channels.     

Effect of Axial Radiation on Heat Transfer in a Thermally and Hydrodynamically Developing Flow between Parallel Plates

The present work investigates coupled convection-radiation heat transfer through parallel plates with both heated and cooled walls. The flow is both hydrodynamically and thermally developing. The momentum and energy equations are solved with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FASTEST3D, based on the finite-volume method (FVM). The medium is considered to be radiatively participating and the radiative heat transfer is also treated by the finite-volume method. Both axial and transverse heat transfer are considered. The effect of axial radiation is shown for different optical parameters by comparing results with and without axial radiation. The effect of hydrodynamically developing flows is also considered.     

Pressure Drop in Multi-Parallel Channels of Corrugated Plate Steam Condensers

An experimental investigation has been carried out to find the pressure difference of the process of steam condensation across the port to channel in plate heat exchangers. In the present study, low corrugation angle (30°) plates have been used for different number of channels, namely, 10 and 80. The process steam entered at 1 bar with a small degree of superheat. Water has been used as the cold fluid. The pressure probes are inserted through the plate gasket into both the inlet and exit ports of the channel. The pressure drop of the process steam has been measured and recorded at the first, middle, and last channels at different flow and exit conditions for each plate package of the heat exchanger. Also, the overall pressure drop has been measured at different conditions at the outlet of the process steam, i.e., full and partial condensation. The pressure drop measurements have indicated that there is a considerable variation in pressure drop from the first channel to the last channel due to flow maldistribution. The experimental data has been analyzed to show how the flow maldistribution affects the pressure drop of a plate condenser.     

Performance prediction of plate-fin radiator for low temperature preheating system of proton exchange membrane fuel cells using CFD simulation

The objective of this paper is to analyze the heat transfer characteristics of plate-fin radiator for the cold air heating system of a PEMFC engine and to find the optimal parameter combination in order to reduce the power consumption. The effect of the coolant mass flow and temperature on the heat exchange performance of the radiator was investigated based on 3D porous medium model. The results, including the amount of heat transferred and temperature change and heat exchanger effectivity with the increasing of the air flow rate at different coolant flow rate were obtained using CFD method. Good agreement is found by comparing the simulation values with the test data and the deviation is less than 7% which indicate simulation model validation and research method feasibility used in this study. The simulation results indicate that bigger coolant flow rate and temperature result in higher outlet air temperature and the amount of heat transferred. The variation of the heat exchanger effectivity is predicted for different working conditions. Based on the Taguchi method, the influence of structural parameters of the corrugated fins on the heat transfer and pressure drop of the radiator is analyzed qualitatively. It is shown that fin length has the greatest impact on the comprehensive heat transfer performance of the radiator. This research provides a guide for optimizing the air preheating system and improving the amount of heat transferred.     

Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Baffle Orientation on Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger With Leakage Flows

The commercial CFD code FLUENT is used to investigate the effect of baffle orientation and of viscosity of the working fluid on the heat transfer and pressure drop in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger in the domain of turbulent flow. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger considered follows the TEMA standards and consists of 76 plane tubes with fixed outside diameter, which are arranged in a triangular pitch. Two baffle orientations as well as leakage flows are considered. In order to determine the effect of viscosity on heat transfer and pressure drop, simulations are performed for the working fluids air, water, and engine oil with Prandtl numbers in the range of 0.7 to 206. For each baffle orientation and working fluid, simulations are performed using different flow velocities at the inlet nozzle. Heat transfer and pressure drop are reported in order to describe the performance of vertically and horizontally baffled shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The heat transfer coefficient is described as modified shell-side Nusselt number, which is defined similar to the VDI method.     

Heat transfer and pressure drop in spacer-filled channels for membrane energy recovery ventilators

This article investigates various support spacers for airflow through membrane-bound channels in energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) to enhance heat and mass transfer. Although liquid flow through membrane-bound channels has been extensively investigated, little work has looked at airflow through these channels. This article presents theoretical pressure drop and heat transfer for an open channel and for simple triangular corrugation (or plain-fin) spacers, which are common in heat exchangers and in some ERVs. It then presents the experimental pressure drop and heat transfer for two new corrugated mesh spacers, with one spacer in three orientations. Results indicate that these can improve heat transfer with little pressure-drop penalty compared to the triangular corrugation spacers. Results also show that unsteady flow occurs in the mesh spacers once a certain flow rate is reached. The optimal spacer depends on the application, which is shown with a cost savings estimate for a hypothetical ERV. Simpler performance metrics that do not require cost estimates can be used to compare two spacers, as long as their limitations are considered.     

Numerical and experimental study of forced convection in graphite foams of different configurations

Forced convection heat transfer in a channel with different configurations of graphite foams is experimentally and numerically studied in this paper. The physical properties of graphite foams such as the porosity, pore diameter, density, permeability and Forchheimer coefficient are determined experimentally. The local temperatures at the surface of the heat source and the pressure drops across different configurations of graphite foams are measured. In the numerical simulations, the Navier–Stokes and Brinkman–Forchheimer equations are used to model the fluid flow in the open and porous regions, respectively. The local thermal non-equilibrium model is adopted in the energy equations to evaluate the solid and fluid temperatures. Comparisons are made between the experimental and simulation results. The results showed that the solid block foam has the best heat transfer performance at the expense of high pressure drop. However, the proposed configurations can achieve relatively good enhancement of heat transfer at moderate pressure drop.     

Optimal configuration of discrete heat sources in a vertical duct under conjugate mixed convection using artificial neural networks

This paper reports the results of a numerical investigation of the problem of finding the optimum configuration for five discrete heat sources, mounted on a wall of a three-dimensional vertical duct under mixed convection heat transfer, using artificial neural networks (ANN). The objective is to locate the positions for the five heat sources in such a way that the maximum temperature of any of the heat sources in a given configuration is a minimum. The three-dimensional governing equations of mass, momentum and energy equations for the fluid flow and the energy equation for the solid regime have been solved by using FLUENT 6.3 and a database of temperature versus configuration was generated. The temperature database developed from CFD simulations is used to train the neural network. The trained neural network predicts the temperature of the heat sources very accurately and much faster than the CFD software. With the use of this network, an exhaustive search for all possible configurations was done that resulted in a global optimum for the problem.     

Optimal design of a plate heat exchanger with undulated surfaces

The purpose of this study is to suggest a general method for the optimal design of a plate heat exchanger (PHE) with undulated surfaces that complies with the principles of sustainability. A previously validated CFD code is employed to predict the heat transfer rate and pressure drop in this type of equipment. The computational model is a three-dimensional narrow channel with angled triangular undulations in a herringbone pattern, whose blockage ratio, channel aspect ratio, corrugation aspect ratio, angle of attack and Reynolds number are used as design variables. To limit the number of simulations needed, the Box–Behnken technique is employed. An objective function that linearly combines heat transfer augmentation with friction losses, using a weighting factor that accounts for the cost of energy, is employed for the optimization procedure using response surface methodology (RSM). New correlations are provided for predicting Nusselt number and friction factor in such PHEs. The results are in very good agreement with published data. Finally, optimal design specifications are suggested for a range of Re for two values of the weighting factor.     

Simulation and study of proposed modifications over straight-parallel flow field design

Diverse CAD (Computer aided-Design) 3D bipolar plates model are presented. By using the OpenFOAM software, an open source CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic), hydrogen flow simulations were carried out, obtaining velocities and pressure maps for each model.     

Combined local microchannel-scale CFD modeling and global chip scale network modeling for electronics cooling design

Microchannel cold plates enjoy increasing interest in liquid cooling of high-performance computing systems. Fast and reliable design tools are required to comply with the fluid mechanics and thermal specifications of such complex devices. In this paper, a methodology accounting for the local as well as the device length scales of the involved physics is introduced and applied to determine the performance of a microchannel cooler. A unit cell of the heat transfer microchannel system is modeled and implemented in conjugate CFD simulations. The fluidic and thermal characteristics of three different cold plate mesh designs are evaluated. Periodic boundary conditions and an iteration procedure are used to reach developed flow and thermal conditions. Subsequently, two network-like models are introduced to predict the overall pressure drop and thermal resistance of the device based on the results of the unit cell evaluations. Finally, the performance figures from the model predictions are compared to experimental data. We illustrate the cooling potential for different channel mesh porosities and compare it to the required pumping power. The agreement between simulations and experiments is within 2%. It was found that for a typical flow rate of 250 ml/min, the thermal resistance of the finest microchannel network examined is reduced by 7% and the heat transfer coefficient is increased by 25% compared to the coarsest channel network. On the other hand, an increase in pressure drop by 100% in the case of densest channel network was found.     

Investigation of convective heat transfer augmentation using acoustic streaming generated by ultrasonic vibrations

An investigation of acoustic streaming induced by ultrasonic flexural vibrations is experimentally and numerically presented. The investigation includes acoustic streaming pattern, velocity, and associated heat transfer characteristics. Acoustic streaming patterns visualized using Acetone agree well with the prediction by Nyborg’s theory. Tests of streaming velocity utilizing Styrofoam showed that the acoustic streaming velocity measured prove to be two orders greater than that by Nyborg’s theory. CFD simulations also showed the same order of the velocity as the one measured. By virtue of acoustic streaming, a notable temperature drop of 40 °C was obtained in 4 min and maintained. Tests identifying major heat flow paths indicated that gaps and the vibrating beam serve as major heat flow paths.CFD simulations were conducted to observe acoustic streaming patterns and velocities in the gap. Simulation results were validated by performing heat transfer analysis based on a lump-energy method. Simulation predicted that two symmetric vortices within half wavelength, rise of air at anti-nodes, and descent at nodes as Nyborg’s theory predicts. The presence of the upper plate has no effect on the acoustic streaming patterns. However, when an upper plate shorter than the vibrating plate is used, a drastic increase in streaming velocity occurs at the edges of the upper plate due to entrainment of air, which also alters streaming pattern in the vicinity of the open end. Estimated streaming velocities from CFD simulations are found to be two orders greater than those based on Nyborg’s theory.The results of CFD simulation indicated the vortical flows induced by a ultrasonic flexural standing wave (UFSW) can be reproduced. The CFD results are experimentally validated, qualitatively through flow pattern comparisons and quantitatively by the transient temperature drop comparison. The CFD results showed that the velocity near the plates is of the order of 10–100 cm/s, which is over 100 times higher than the results from theoretical studies based on sonically induced acoustic streaming assuming inviscid flow.     

A hydrodynamic network model for interdigitated flow fields

The flow field is one of the main components of a fuel cell, which distributes the reactants to the active area of the cell and evacuates the products formed. Interdigitated flow field (IFF) is one among the different types of flow field designs that forces the reactants or products to flow through the electrode, thereby increasing the cell performance by decreasing concentration polarization loss, however, at the cost of higher-pressure drop. Prior understanding of the reactant and water vapour distribution in a flow field helps in obtaining the best flow field design. In the present paper, a model for the flow distribution and the pressure drop in an IFF has been developed using the analogy between fluid flow and electrical network in which the pressure is made analogous to the voltage and the flow rate to the current. The model, which ultimately reduces to the solution of a set of simultaneous algebraic equations, is capable of predicting the flow split among a set of inlet and outlet channels of an interdigitated flow field as well as the overall pressure drop for laminar, turbulent and two-phase flow conditions for arbitrary number of parallel channels. The results from the hydrodynamic network model have been validated against CFD simulations. This model can therefore be used for the optimization of interdigitated flow field design.     

CFD investigation of the flow and heat transfer characteristics in a tangential inlet cyclone

This work presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation to investigate the flow field and the heat transfer characteristics in a tangential inlet cyclone which is mainly used for the separation of the dens phase of a two phase flow. Governing equations for the steady turbulent 3D flow were solved numerically under certain boundary conditions covering an inlet velocity range of 3 to 30 m/s. Finite volume based Fluent software was used and the RNG k −  turbulence model was adopted for the modeling highly swirling turbulent flow. Good agreement was found between computed pressure drop and experimental data available in the literature. The structure of the vortices and variation of local heat transfer were studied under the effects of inlet velocity.     

Numerical study of flow and heat transfer characteristics in outward convex corrugated tubes

The flow and heat transfer characteristics in convex corrugated tubes have been investigated through numerical simulations in this paper. Two kinds of tube types named as symmetric corrugated tube (SCT) and asymmetric corrugated tube (ACT) are modeled and studied numerically based on the k-ε model. The heat transfer working fluid at shell and tube sides are nitrogen and helium gases respectively. 2D axisymmetric model is adopted to simplify 3D model in order to reduce the computation cost greatly. Numerical simulation results for flow and heat transfer performances in SCT and ACT with various geometrical parameters, including corrugation pitch, corrugation height and corrugation trough radii are systematically analyzed. The mechanisms behind the improvement of overall performances of the simulated outward convex corrugated tube are discussed through investigating the details of turbulent velocity fields at both tube and shell sides. Compared to SCT, ACT exhibits 8–18% higher overall heat transfer performance.     

Energy analysis of non-Newtonian nanofluid flow over parabola of revolution on the horizontal surface with catalytic chemical reaction

Nanofluids are special functional fluids, which are designed to reduce the loss of energy and maximize the transport of heat. The thermophoresis and Brownian motion of the particle are important factors in the transport of heat in these fluids. The rise in heat transport shows encouraging effects in control of dissipation of energy and reduces entropy generation. In the current study, two-dimensional non-Newtonian Casson nanofluid flow on an upper horizontal surface of a parabola is investigated. The impact of catalytic surface chemical reactions has been account also due to its industrial importance. For this flow problem, the governing equations are modeled using the law of conservation of mass, momentum, heat, and concentration equation. The fitting transformations are taken to change governing couple partial differential equations and domain into local similar ordinary differential equation and domain of [0,∞). Using the "RK4" approach with Newton's shooting schemes via MATLAB tools, the numerical solution of dimensionless governing equations is sorted. It is observed that the Casson fluid parameter caused a drop in temperature profile, and the chemical reaction parameter is the source of the rise in the temperature field.     

Two-phase flow of refrigerants during evaporation under constant heat flux in a horizontal tube

This paper presents the results of simulations using a two-phase separated flow model to study the heat transfer and flow characteristics of refrigerants during evaporation in a horizontal tube. A one-dimensional annular flow model of the evaporation of refrigerants under constant heat flux is developed. The basic physical equations governing flow are established from the conservation of mass, energy and momentum. The model is validated by comparing it with the experimental data reported in literature. The present model can be used to predict the variation of the temperature, heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of various pure refrigerants flowing along a horizontal tube. It is found that the refrigerant temperature decreases along the tube corresponding to the decreasing of its saturation pressure. The liquid heat transfer coefficient increases with the axial length due to the reducing thickness of the liquid film. The evaporation rate of liquid refrigerant tends to decrease with increasing axial length, due to the decreasing latent heat transfer through the liquid–vapor interface. The developed model can be considered as an effective tool for evaporator design and can be used to choose appropriate refrigerants under designed conditions.