GA-Based Optimization of Compact Plate Heat Exchangers With Manifold-Microchannel Grooves

Author(s):  
Foluso Ladeinde ◽  
Kehinde Alabi ◽  
Wenhai Li

Manifold-microchannel combinations used on heat transfer surfaces have shown the potential for superior heat transfer performance to pressure drop ratio when compared to chevron type corrugations for plate heat exchangers (PHE) [1–4]. However, compared with heat transfer enhancements such as intermating troughs and Chevron corrugations, manifold-microchannels (MM) have several times more variables that influence the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics, including microchannel width, depth, passes, manifold depth, width, and manifold fin thickness. Previous work has reported on the effects of some of the variables, and provides some models for their effects on thermal and hydraulic performance. The current paper presents a genetic algorithm (GA)-based procedure to analyze the implicit effects of some of the manifold-microchannel variables, and compare the performance of manifold-microchannel plate heat exchangers to those using standard Chevron corrugations. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the performance of manifold-microchannel heat transfer enhancements and demonstrate the potential for using GA-based procedure to optimize the heat exchanger. This paper also presents the modifications of the standard GA algorithm when applied to the optimization of MM. The resulting GA procedure is particularly well suited to PHEs for several reasons, including the fact that it does not require continuous variables or functional dependence on the design variables. In addition, the computational effort required for the GA technique in our implementation scales linearly, with a scaling coefficient that is significantly less than one, making it economical to analyze PHEs with several variables with degrees of freedom (DOF) with respect to the fitness function. The results of optimizing a manifold-microchannel plate heat exchanger are presented, and the exchanger’s performance is compared to more conventional PHE of the same volume utilizing chevron corrugations. Finally, results from the empirical procedure presented in this paper for a manifold-microchannel are compared with experimental measurements in Andhare [5].

Author(s):  
William C. Yameen ◽  
Nathan A. Piascik ◽  
Andrew K. Miller ◽  
Riccardo C. Clemente ◽  
Jingru Z. Benner ◽  
...  

Abstract In this study, the additive manufacturing technique has been utilized to fabricate air-water heat exchangers for the application of thermoelectric power plants. Additive manufacturing is a powerful fabrication method that has enabled fabrication of complex geometries that are either challenging or impossible to fabricate based on conventional techniques. Three manifold-microchannel heat exchangers with different interior designs were fabricated by additive manufacturing and from stainless steel. The heat exchangers were tested at different air flow rates and different inlet water temperatures. One heat exchanger was designed and fabricated based on an original design of the manifold-microchannel heat exchanger. Two other heat exchangers were designed with some modifications compared to the original design. In one modified heat exchanger, cylindrical pin arrays were considered on air manifold walls in order to enhance air disturbance, and thus, increase heat transfer between water and air. The second modified heat exchanger contained same pins and also had microchannels in the perpendicular orientation compared to the original design in the outlet manifolds. This design modification was done in order to reduce air-side pressure drop in the heat exchanger. The heat transfer characteristics along with air-side pressure drop were measured and compared with the original design of the manifold-microchannel heat exchanger. Results indicated that the heat flow rate, convection heat transfer coefficient, and pressure drop did not significantly change in modified heat exchangers. For air Reynolds number between around 800 and 4,000, the heat flow rates obtained in the original heat exchanger (type A) and for 50° C water inlet temperature were between 63.9 and 228 W for the lowest and the highest air flow rates, respectively. For the same inlet water temperature, these heat flow rates were between 64.2 and 211 W for the lowest and the highest air flow rates and in one of the modified heat exchangers (type B), respectively. Similarly, while the highest air-side pressure drop in the original heat exchanger was 3458 Pa, this property was measured at 3525 (type B) and 3884 (type C) for the two modified heat exchangers.


2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 113-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONG YUN JEONG ◽  
CHUNG WOO JUNG ◽  
SANG-CHUL NAM ◽  
YONG TAE KANG

Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of the welded plate heat exchangers are experimented to apply the high- and low-temperature solution heat exchanger (SHX) of absorption systems. Two different SHXs were made using the seam and tig welding method. In this paper, the welded embossing type plate heat exchangers were tested by controlling mass flow rate and inlet/outlet temperatures. It was found that heat transfer and pressure drop performance increased with increasing Reynolds number. It was also found that the pressure drop from the present W-embossing type plate heat exchanger was much lower than that from the brazed type, as low as 1/7 times. The experimental correlations for Nusselt number and Fanning friction factor were developed with the error bands of ± 20% and ± 25%, respectively. These results provide a guideline to apply the welded plate heat exchanger for the solution heat exchanger of absorption systems.


2013 ◽  
Vol 832 ◽  
pp. 160-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alam Khairul ◽  
Rahman Saidur ◽  
Altab Hossain ◽  
Mohammad Abdul Alim ◽  
Islam Mohammed Mahbubul

Helically coiled heat exchangers are globally used in various industrial applications for their high heat transfer performance and compact size. Nanofluids can provide excellent thermal performance of this type of heat exchangers. In the present study, the effect of different nanofluids on the heat transfer performance in a helically coiled heat exchanger is examined. Four different types of nanofluids CuO/water, Al2O3/water, SiO2/water, and ZnO/water with volume fractions 1 vol.% to 4 vol.% was used throughout this analysis and volume flow rate was remained constant at 3 LPM. Results show that the heat transfer coefficient is high for higher particle volume concentration of CuO/water, Al2O3/water and ZnO/water nanofluids, while the values of the friction factor and pressure drop significantly increase with the increase of nanoparticle volume concentration. On the contrary, low heat transfer coefficient was found in higher concentration of SiO2/water nanofluids. The highest enhancement of heat transfer coefficient and lowest friction factor occurred for CuO/water nanofluids among the four nanofluids. However, highest friction factor and lowest heat transfer coefficient were found for SiO2/water nanofluids. The results reveal that, CuO/water nanofluids indicate significant heat transfer performance for helically coiled heat exchanger systems though this nanofluids exhibits higher pressure drop.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-71
Author(s):  
Abeth Novria Sonjaya ◽  
Marhaenanto Marhaenanto ◽  
Mokhamad Eka Faiq ◽  
La Ode M Firman

The processed wood industry urgently needs a dryer to improve the quality of its production. One of the important components in a dryer is a heat exchanger. To support a durable heat transfer process, a superior material is needed. The aim of the study was to analyze the effectiveness of the application of cross-flow flat plate heat exchangers to be used in wood dryers and compare the materials used and simulate heat transfer on cross-flow flat plate heat exchangers using Computational Fluid Dynamic simulations. The results showed that there was a variation in the temperature out of dry air and gas on the flat plate heat exchanger and copper material had a better heat delivery by reaching the temperature out of dry air and gas on the flat plate type heat exchanger of successive cross flow and.   overall heat transfer coefficient value and the effectiveness value of the heat exchanger of the heat transfer characteristics that occur with the cross-flow flat plate type heat exchanger in copper material of 251.74725 W/K and 0.25.


2013 ◽  
Vol 655-657 ◽  
pp. 461-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Fang Song

The three-dimensional model of heat exchangers with continuous helical baffles was built. The fluid flow dynamics and heat transfer of shell side in the helical baffled heat exchanger were simulated and calculated. The velocity, pressure and temperature distributions were achieved. The simulation shows that with the same baffle pitch, shell-side heat transfer coefficient increased by 25% and the pressure drop decreases by 18% in helical baffled heat exchanger compared with segmental helical baffles. With the analyzing of the flow and heat transfer in heat exchanger in 5 different inclination angles from 11°to 21°, it can be found that both shell side heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop will reduce respectively by 86% and 52% with the increases 11°to 21°of the inclination angles. Numerical simulation provided reliable theoretical reference for further engineering research of heat exchanger with helical baffles.


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