Thermal Analysis of a Plate Heat Exchanger (PHE) Fitted with Carding Tool Patterns using CFD Modeling

Inspired by the wool carding tools, a new plate heat exchanger (PHE) design was developed, tested and analyzed numerically. The present research work used CFD simulations to examine the impact of various parameters, such as the rib type (continuous, discreet), the arrangement type (rectangular, square and triangular) and the geometrical parameters (transversal and longitudinal pitch) on the PHE hydraulic and thermal performances. A three-dimensional 3D evaluation of turbulent flow over a plate fitted with carding tool patterns was conducted using the k-ɛ turbulence model and with a Reynolds number range of 400 to 1800. The numerical results were compared to previous experimental research to validate the dependability of the technique, and a mesh independence analysis was performed to confirm the precision and the accuracy of the CFD method. The results show that CFD software Ansys can effectively predict the pressure drop across the carding tools and provide valuable insights into the fluid flow behavior within the system in terms of calculating the thermal hydraulic performance parameter THPP and the thermal effectiveness ɛ. The ultimate goal of this research work was to identify the ideal arrangement with the highest heat transfer rate and the lowest pressure losses in terms of determining the best THPP. Compared to the conventional PHE chevron type, the thermal performance of the novel PHE design was enhanced by 25.63 % and 54% in terms of non-dimensional parameters ɛ and THPP, respectively.