Experimental investigation of heat transfer and pressure drop in cross-corrugated plate heat exchangers

摘要

Plate heat exchangers (PHE's) with "chevron" or "herringbone" corrugation have been used in industrial applications which involve heat recovery, power generation, air-conditioning and refrigeration due to their high heat transfer rate, compactness and low maintenance cost. It is generally known that their performance depends on a number of factors including the inclination angle, the depth and height, and the shape of the corrugation, the size of the plate, and so on. In this paper, the effects ofthe corrugation angle (which is considered to be the most important factor) on the heat transfer and pressure drop are investigated. The details of the design of the experimental rig and the method of data acquisition are described. Heat transfer andpressure drop experimental data for two especially designed test samples having two different corrugation inclination angles are provided and analysed. It is shown that the corrugation inclination angle has a significant influence on heat transfer inPHE's. Based on these data, empirical correlations which can be used in the design of such heat exchangers are provided.