Thermal Performance of a Low-Temperature Heat Exchanger Using a Micro Heat Pipe Array

Abstract

Domestic heat exchangers, even though widely used in industry, are not adequate for studies on low-temperature flue-gas use technologies. Despite spite their limitations, very few theoretical models have been investigated based on practical applications. Moreover, most of the existing studies on heat exchangers have focused particularly on one-dimensional and two-dimensional heat transfer models, while limited studies focus on three-dimensional ones. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the thermal performance of a low-temperature flue-gas heat recovery unit in the cold regions. Specifically, this study was conducted in the context of Changchun of Jilin Province, China, a city with the mean ambient temperature of −14 °C and mean diurnal temperature of −10 °C during winter. Experimental results showed that the thermal efficiency of the heat exchanger was higher than 60%. Through assessing the heat exchange coefficient and heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger, it is found that the thermal efficiency had been improved up to 0.77–0.83. Furthermore, the ICEPAK software and the standard k-ε RNG turbulence model were used to carry out simulations. The velocity and outlet temperature of fresh airflow and polluted airflow were simulated through setting different inlet temperatures of fresh air and polluted air inlet. Numerical results further indicated that the flow state was laminar flow. The micro heat pipe array side had small eddies and the heat transfer was significantly improved due to the flow of air along the surface of the micro heat pipe.