Chevron Plate Heat Exchanger, ANSYS Fluent CFD Simulation Training

Description

The present problem deals with the simulation of a plate heat exchanger called CHEVRON by ANSYS Fluent software. We perform this CFD project and investigate it by CFD analysis.

In this model, water acts as both hot and cold fluid flow in a heat exchanger. The plates between the two flows and all the heat exchanger walls are aluminum, which is responsible for the heat transfer between the cold water and the hot water flow. This project investigates the heat transfer between two hot and cold fluids through a chevron plate heat exchanger.

The 3-D geometry of the present model is designed by Design Modeler software. Since the model is related to the plate heat exchanger, it consists of two main parts: the hot water flow zone and the cold water flow zone. The separator plates (chevron) determine the boundary between these two flows.

The unstructured mesh of the present model is carried out by ANSYS Meshing software. The element number is equal to 638892.

 Chevron Methodology

The hot and cold velocities are equal to 0.25m/c, while the temperature equals 283.15k and 343.15k for cold and hot water, respectively. Standard K-e model applying a Steady-State solver is used for this CFD simulation

Chevron Conclusion

Chevron heat exchangers are more efficient than other plate heat exchangers because of the turbulent flow on both sides, which leads to a better heat transfer performance considering the shape of chevron plates, including grooves.

The particular configuration of the chevron plates increases the contact surface compared to standard plates, which directly leads to a higher heat transfer rate between cold and hot fluids.

After resolving the flow, the cold output temperature is computed as equal to 300.8757 k, and the hot output temperature is computed as equal to 325.714 k. Therefore, the temperature difference between the cold inlet and outlet is 17.72 degrees, and for hot water, this value is equal to -17.436 k.

Also, the total heat transfer rate on the plate is computed as equal to 1440.7727 W.

The average Nusselt number (Nu=((q’*d)/k(Tb-TW))) is computed equal to 593.432. Also, the pressure drop is about 610pa to 690pa on cold and hot sides, respectively. Finally, by using the formula below, the heat load in this project is computed as equal to 9,980.04 J/s.  (Q^.=M^.C)