Phase change and heat transfer characteristics of a corrugated plate heat exchanger

Abstract

In order to reveal the evolution law of heat transfer during phase change in a corrugated plate flow passage of a plate heat exchanger, a two-dimensional two-channel model was established to simulate the process of heat transfer during phase change in an unsteady flow passage. The results show that when the time was <3/5T, the average Nusselt number and average heat flux of the heat exchange wall surface decreased with time, the average temperature of the cold fluid outlet increased, the average temperature of the hot fluid outlet decreased, and the volume fraction of the gas phase was no higher than 0.2. When the time was >3/5T, the average Nusselt number and the average heat flux of the heat exchange wall, as well as the outlet average temperature of the cold and hot fluid, reached stability, while the volume fraction of the gas phase increased rapidly. During the whole heat transfer process, the change in Nusselt number and heat flux along the heat transfer wall surface was basically the same, and its value fluctuated along the wall surface, displaying extrema at the exit, entrance, and corrugated corner. The temperature of the heat exchange wall fluctuated and increased along the Y-axis, and began stabilizing after a time >3/5T. As time went on, the temperature gradient of the hot and cold fluid outlet and the temperature difference between the two sides of the heat exchange wall decreased, whereas the relative parameters of the heat flow inlet section of the corrugated passage reached stability before those of the cold flow inlet section. The whole simulation process fully reflects the heat transfer mechanism during phase change in a corrugated plate flow passage of a plate heat exchanger.