Experimental investigation and ANN modelling on thermo-hydraulic efficacy of cross-flow three-fluid plate-fin heat exchanger

Abstract

Compact cross-flow three-fluid heat exchanger with plain rectangular fins is experimentally investigated for both thermal and hydraulic efficacy under steady-state condition. The elaborative investigation is conducted for all the four viable flow arrangements of cross-flow configuration which comprises the effect of Colburn factor and effectiveness ratio of central and adjacent fluids, and friction factor with Reynolds number. It is learnt that thermal efficacy is sentient to the operating conditions, type of flow arrangement and variation in flow rate. The comparison of the efficacy between the plain duct (without fin core) and with fin heat exchanger core is presented to analyse the impact of fins in enthalpy exchange. The regression correlation is developed to estimate the thermal and hydraulic performance which are accurate within ±16% and ±5.8% respectively. The investigation is further assisted with the ANN modelling for the prediction of the thermo-hydraulic efficacy with two input (Reynolds number and flow arrangement type) and four output performance parameters (Colburn factor, friction factor and effectiveness ratios). The fraction of 77% and 23% of data is considered for training and testing the neural network respectively. It is learnt that ANN predictions are more promising and accurate than regression predictions and the magnitude of the value of an absolute fraction of variance equals unity.