To investigate the flow distribution in plate-fin heat exchangers and optimize the design of header configuration for plate-fin heat exchangers. A mathematical model of header was proposed. The effects of the header configuration on the flow distribution in plate-fin heat exchangers were investigated by CFD. The second header configuration with a two-stage-distributing structure was brought forward to improve the performance of flow distribution. It is found that the flow maldistribution is very serious in the direction of header length for the conventional header used in industry. The numerical predictions indicate that the improved header configurations can effectively improve the performance of flow distribution in plate-fin heat exchangers. The numerical simulation confirms that CFD should be a suitable tool for predicting the flow distribution. The method has a wide variety of applications in the design of plate-fin heat exchangers.
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