Improvement of heat exchanger efficiency by using hydraulic and thermal entrance regions

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel multi-chamber heat exchanger design that enhances efficiency by utilizing entrance hydraulic and thermal regions, supported by analytical calculations and numerical simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a new multi-chamber shell-and-tube heat exchanger design that improves heat transfer efficiency by better utilizing entrance regions.

Findings

Higher heat transfer coefficients observed in the novel design

Numerical simulations confirm analytical efficiency improvements

Multi-chamber design outperforms traditional heat exchangers

Abstract

This study investigates one of the possible approaches of improvement of heat exchangers efficiency. Literature review shows that most approaches of improvement are based on the heat transfer surface increasing and laminar-to-turbulent flow transition using different types of riffles forming and shaped inserts. In this article, a novel approach to the heat transfer intensification was employed. The main hypothesis is that applying of multi-chamber design of heat exchanger - ordinary shell-and-tube regions intersperse with common for all tubes regions - will help to improve the utilization of the entrance hydraulic and thermal regions thereby receive higher heat transfer coefficients and higher heat capacity of the heat exchange device. To prove the hypotheses we take the following steps. Firstly, development of the new geometry of the heat-exchanger design - multi chambers construction. Secondly, proving of the higher efficiency of novel design comparing to ordinary design by analytical calculations. Thirdly, numerical simulation of the heat exchange process and fluids flow in both types of heat exchangers that proves the analytical solution.