The effect of plate size and corrugation pattern on plate heat exchanger performance in specific conditions of steam-air mixture condensation

Abstract

The results of mathematical modelling and experimental study of plate heat exchangers (PHEs) in steam-air mixture condensation are presented. The mathematical model is validated by test data for PHE in the industry and for five experimental samples with corrugation angles, 30°, 45°, and 60° and corrugation heights 5, 7.5 and 10 mm. With no limited pressure drop in PHE, its heat transfer area can be decreased up to 4 times with the plate's corrugations angle of 60°. When pressure drop on the side of condensing stream is limited, at a small mass fraction of air, PHE with corrugated plates' heat transfer area can be smaller than in PHE assembled from flat plates about 1.5 times ± 11% at channels of different corrugations geometries. For commercially produced plate-and-frame PHE, the pressure losses at channel entrance and distribution zones should be accounted. For plates with a corrugations angle of 60°, their share in total pressure drop can be from 7% up to 39.3%, while at a corrugations angle of 30°, up to 59%. The final choice of corrugation angle and height for plates designed for specific duty can be made by solving a future optimisation problem with a developed mathematical model.