FLOW RESISTANCE AND HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF A NEW-TYPE PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER

A new-type corrugation Plate Heat Exchanger （PHE） was designed. Results from both numerical simulations and experiments showed that the flow resistance of the working fluid in this new corrugation PHE, compared with the traditional chevron-type one, was decreased by more than 50%, and corresponding heat transfer performance was decreased by about 25%. The flow field of the working fluid in the corrugation PHE was transformed and hence performance difference in both flow resistance and heat transfer was generated. Such a novel plate, consisting of longitudinal and transverse corrugations, can effectively avoid the problem of flow path blockage, which will help to extend the application of PHEs to the situation with unclean working fluids.