CFD Simulation on Flow Distribution in Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers

Abstract:

The influences of the conventional header configuration used in industry at present on the fluid flow distribution in plate-fin heat exchanger were numerically investigated. The numerical results showed that the fluid flow maldistribution is very serious in the heat exchanger. The header configuration with perforated plate was brought forward for the first time. The computational results indicated that the improved header configuration can effectively improve the performance of fluid flow distribution in the heat exchanger. The fluid flow distribution for the header configuration with curving perforated plate is more uniform than for the header configuration with plane perforated plate. The absolute degree of fluid flow nonuniformity in plate-fin heat exchanger has reduced from 3.47 to 0.32 by changing the header configuration. The numerical results are compared with the experimental results. They are basically consistent which indicates that the mathematical model and the calculating method are reliable.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 655-657)
• Pages: 445-448
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.655-657.445
• Online since: January 2013
• Authors: Zhe Zhang, Jin Jin Tian, Yong Gang Guo
• Keywords: Flow Distribution, Header Configuration, Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger

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