Experimental and numerical studies of a spiral plate heat exchanger

Abstract

An experimental and numerical study of heat transfer and flow characteristics of spiral plate heat exchanger was carried out. The effects of geometrical aspects of the spiral plate heat exchanger and fluid properties on the heat transfer characteristics were also studied. Three spiral plate heat exchangers with different plate spacing (4 mm, 5 mm, and 6 mm) were designed, fabricated and tested. Physical models have been experimented for different process fluids and flow conditions. Water is taken as test fluid. The effect of mass flow rate and Reynolds number on heat transfer coefficient has been studied. Correlation has been developed to predict Nusselt numbers. Numerical models have been simulated using CFD software package FLUENT 6.3.26. The numerical Nusselt number have been calculated and compared with that of experimental Nusselt number.