Optimal design of crossflow heat exchangers

Journal Article · Wed May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991 · Journal of Heat Transfer (Transactions of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), Series C); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2910567· OSTI ID:5337334

Van den Bulck, E ^[1]

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1. Katholieke Univ. Leuven, Heverlee (Belgium)

The design of plate-fin and tube-fin crossflow heat exchangers is discussed. The transfer surface area of crossflow heat exchangers is used ineffectively because of the nonuniform distribution of the heat transfer across the volume of the exchanger. The optimal distribution of the transfer surface area for maximum heat exchanger effectiveness and constant total surface area is determined. It is found that a Dirac delta distribution of the transfer surface aligned along the diagonal of the crossflow exchanger gives the best performance; equal to that of a counterflow device. Design guidelines for optimal area allocation within crossflow heat exchangers are established. Compared to conventional designs, designs following these guidelines may lead to either a higher exchanger effectiveness for equal pressure drops and surface area, reduced pressure drops for equal exchanger effectiveness, or reduced weight and a near cubic form of the exchanger core for equal pressure drops and effectiveness.

• OSTI ID: 5337334
• Journal Information: Journal of Heat Transfer (Transactions of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), Series C); (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Heat Transfer (Transactions of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), Series C); (United States) Vol. 113:2; ISSN 0022-1481; ISSN JHTRA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420400* -- Engineering-- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
CONFIGURATION
CROSSFLOW SYSTEMS
DESIGN
DRYING
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY SYSTEMS
FINS
FOOD INDUSTRY
HEAT EXCHANGERS
INDUSTRY
METAL INDUSTRY
OPTIMIZATION
PAPER INDUSTRY
PLATES
PRESSURE DROP
SPACE HVAC SYSTEMS
SURFACE AREA
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TUBES
WASTE HEAT UTILIZATION
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
WEIGHT
WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY