Simulation studies on a cross flow plate fin heat exchanger

Abstract

Compact heat exchangers which were initially developed for the aerospace industries in the 1940s have been considerably improved in the past few years. The main reasons for the good performance of compact heat exchangers are their special design which includes turbulent which in turn use high heat transfer coefficient and resists fouling, and maximum temperature driving force between the hot and cold fluids. Numerous types use special enhancement techniques to achieve the required heat transfer in smaller plot areas and, in many cases, less initial investment. One such type of compact heat exchanger is the Plate-fin heat exchanger. The complexity of compact heat exchanger design equations results from the exchangers unique ability to transfer heat between multiple process streams and a wide array of possible flow configurations. This paper presents the performance evaluation of cross flow plate fin heat exchanger with several different Gas-Liquid systems. Experimental results such as exchanger effectiveness, overall heat transfer coefficients were calculated for the flow systems of Cross flow Heat Exchangers. A steady state model for the outlet temperature of both the cold and hot fluid and overall heat transfer coefficient of a plate-fin cross flow heat exchanger was developed and simulated using MATLAB, which was verified with the experiments conducted. © 2008 Science Publications.