High Efficiency Heat Exchanger for High Temperature and High Pressure Applications
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division
CompRex, LLC (CompRex) specializes in the design and manufacture of compact heat exchangers and heat exchange reactors for high temperature and high pressure applications. CompRex’s proprietary compact technology not only increases heat exchange efficiency by at least 25 % but also reduces footprint by at least a factor of ten compared to traditional shell-and-tube solutions of the same capacity and by 15 to 20 % compared to other currently available Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) solutions. As a result, CompRex’s solution is especially suitable for Brayton cycle supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) systems given its high efficiency and significantly lower capital and operating expenses. CompRex has already successfully demonstrated its technology and ability to deliver with a pilot-scale compact heat exchanger that was under contract by the Naval Nuclear Laboratory for sCO2 power cycle development. The performance tested unit met or exceeded the thermal and hydraulic specifications with measured heat transfer between 95 to 98 % of maximum heat transfer and temperature and pressure drop values all consistent with the modeled values. CompRex’s vision is to commercialize its compact technology and become the leading provider for compact heat exchangers and heat exchange reactors for various applications including Brayton cycle sCO2 systems. One of the limitations of the sCO2 Brayton power cycle is the design and manufacturing of efficient heat exchangers at extreme operating conditions. Current diffusion-bonded heat exchangers have limitations on the channel size through which the fluid travels, resulting in excessive solid material per heat exchanger volume. CompRex’s design allows for more open area and shorter fluid proximity for increased heat transfer efficiency while sustaining the structural integrity needed for the application. CompRex is developing a novel improvement to its current heat exchanger design where fluids are directed to alternating channels so that each fluid is fully surrounded by the opposing fluid. As compared to similar existing compact heat exchangers, the new design converts most secondary surface area to primary surface area, eliminating fin inefficiencies. CompRex requests that all technical information about the heat exchanger designs be protected as proprietary information. To honor that request, only non-proprietay summaries are included in this report.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1404925
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/NE-C-2016-16142; 139391
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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