The effect of flow arrangement on the pressure drop of plate heat exchangers

For the optimal design of plate heat exchangers (PHEs), an accurate thermal–hydraulic model that takes into account the effect of the flow arrangement on the heat load and pressure drop is necessary. In the present study, the effect of the flow arrangement on the pressure drop of a PHE is investigat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical engineering science 2008-11, Vol.63 (22), p.5386-5393
Main Authors: Miura, Raquel Y., Galeazzo, Flavio C.C., Tadini, Carmen C., Gut, Jorge A.W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Biological and medical sciences
Chemical engineering
Exact sciences and technology
Food engineering
Food industries
Food processing
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Heat exchangers and evaporators
Hydrodynamics of contact apparatus
Mathematical modeling
Parameter identification
Plate heat exchanger
Pressure drop
Process design
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Summary:For the optimal design of plate heat exchangers (PHEs), an accurate thermal–hydraulic model that takes into account the effect of the flow arrangement on the heat load and pressure drop is necessary. In the present study, the effect of the flow arrangement on the pressure drop of a PHE is investigated. Thirty two different arrangements were experimentally tested using a laboratory scale PHE with flat plates. The experimental data was used for (a) determination of an empirical correlation for the effect of the number of passes and number of flow channels per pass on the pressure drop; (b) validation of a friction factor model through parameter estimation; and (c) comparison with the simulation results obtained with a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model of the PHE. All three approaches resulted in a good agreement between experimental and predicted values of pressure drop. Moreover, the CFD model is used for evaluating the flow maldistribution in a PHE with two channels per pass.
ISSN:0009-2509
1873-4405
DOI:10.1016/j.ces.2008.07.029