Abstract
Plate heat exchangers have been widely used in various fields because of their high heat transfer coefficients, small area of installation, and ease of maintenance compared to other heat exchangers. However, when plate heat exchanger is used for a long time, leak can occur due to inner crack. Therefore, it is important to understand the inner flow characteristics in plate heat exchangers. In this study, the inner flow characteristics and flow rate of plate heat exchanger were evaluated using various flow directions, pin-hole sizes, and Reynolds numbers. In downflow, initially most water flowed to the opposite of the inlet due to distribution region. Then it gradually had a uniform distribution due to chevron configuration. In upflow, it had a uniform flow consistently due to the dominant gravity effect. As the Reynolds number increased, the leak rate was decreased due to the inertia effect regardless of the flow direction.
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