Performance Of Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger Research Articles

Numerical Study on Thermal-Hydraulic Performance of Printed Circuit Heat Exchangers during Natural Gas Trans-Critical Liquefaction

Printed Circuit Heat Exchangers (PCHEs) are considered an excellent alternative for the main cryogenic heat exchanger of Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facilities due to their compact structure and strong heat transfer performance. However, it is unclear how to configure the geometry of the PCHE channels to achieve its optimal performance in the trans-critical liquefaction process of natural gas (NG), which is critical for the main heat exchanger. In this paper, we numerically studied the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of PCHEs with different channel types under the specified condition. The results elucidate that all channels have an enhancement of heat transfer near the pseudo-critical point of NG. All the wavy channels could improve the heat transfer performance of PCHEs, where the trapezoidal channel achieves the largest promotion. Compared with the straight channel, the local heat transfer coefficient could be increased by up to 53% in the trapezoidal channel. Additionally, vortex appeared at the bends of the wavy channels, which greatly increase the local friction loss. Among several channels, the total pressure drop of zigzag, fillet and the sinusoidal channel was almost the same, while that of the trapezoidal channel was the largest. Furthermore, we compared the comprehensive performance of different types of channels and found that the benefit of heat transfer enhancement could not offset the penalty of flow deterioration. Our work provides important guidance for the design of PCHEs employed in FLNG.

Performance Analysis of a Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger with a Novel Mirror-Symmetric Channel Design

The printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) is a promising waste heat recovery technology to improve energy efficiency. The current investigation presents the experimental results on the thermal performance of a novel PCHE for low-temperature waste heat recovery. The novel PCHE was manufactured using precision machining and diffusion bonding. The thermal performances, such as effectiveness and NTU values at different temperatures, are evaluated, and water is used as a working fluid. The experimental results indicate that the PCHE’s effectiveness is around 0.979 for an inlet flow temperature of 95 °C. The predominant factors affecting the thermal performance of the PCHE are the inlet flow temperature and the flow rate of the working fluid. In addition, a comparison of the experimental results and the literature shows that the effectiveness of the PCHE is better than the others, which have fewer layers of PCHE fins.

마이크로채널 형상에 따른 PCHE 열유동 수치해석

새롭게 제안된 형상의 마이크로채널 PCHE는 기존의 상용 열교환기에 비해 고성능, 고효율의 특성을 보이며 열교환을 수행한다. 본 연구에서는 I, Wavy, Beehive, Surf, I-Wavy, I-Beehive, I-Surf 의 형상을 갖는 다양한 마이크로채널을 모델링하였다. 질량유속 변화에 따른 다양한 마이크로채널 내 유체의 유동특성, 열전달, 압력강하를 살펴보았고 그 결과는 마이크로채널의 열전달 능력을 향상시키는데 이용된다. I 채널은 새롭게 적용된 채널 형상과의 성능비교를 위해 해석을 수행하였다. 다양한 레이놀즈수 변화 하에서 고온측과 저온측 유체는 대향류 형태로 열교환이 이루어지도록 하였다. 수치해석 결과 Surf 형상이 다른 형상들보다 열교환 성능이 우수함을 확인하였다.