A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study on Polymer Heat Exchangers for Low-Temperature Applications: Assessing Additive Manufacturing and Thermal-Hydraulic Performance

Abstract

In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is employed to examine the feasibility of utilizing corrugated polymer-based heat exchangers for low-temperature applications. The k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model is implemented for simulating turbulent fluid flow within the flow channels in cases with corrugations and varying Reynolds numbers, while a laminar model is applied for the flat heat exchanger cases. The simulations reveal that, under specific conditions, polymer-based heat exchangers exhibit effective heat transfer performance for low-temperature applications. When the heat exchanger's polymer surface thickness is less than 2.7 mm and possesses corrugations, its heat transfer efficiency surpasses that of flat aluminum heat exchangers with the same thickness. Furthermore, the analysis of the thermal-hydraulic performance demonstrates that incorporating small, widely-spaced corrugations on the heat exchanger surface yields optimal heat transfer relative to the increase in pumping power. These encouraging findings emphasize the need for further experimental investigations to validate the performance of corrugated polymer-based heat exchangers in low-temperature applications.