Spiral-Plate Heat Exchanger Effectiveness With Equal Capacitance Rates

A formula is derived for the dependence of heat exchanger effectiveness on the number of transfer units for a spiral-plate heat exchanger with equal capacitance rates. The difference-differential equations that describe the temperature distributions of the two counter-flowing fluids, neglecting thermal radiation, are solved symbolically to close approximation. Provision is made for offset inlet and exit of the hot and cold fluids at the outer periphery and for large heat transfer coefficients in entrance regions. The peak effectiveness and the number of transfer units at which it occurs are predicted.