A 3-D Numerical Analysis of the Effect of Fin Pattern on the Thermo-Hydarulic Performance of Plate Heat Exchangers

This study numerically examines some commercially available plate patterns of plate heat exchangers using a 3-D CFD simulation. Detailed flow distribution and heat transfer characteristics subject to three different plate patterns are examined in this study. The plate pattern include GC26 and NT10 (double chevron) and SW26. The effective surface area of the associated plate patterns are 0.8671, 0.6808, and 0.6721 m², respectively. The corresponding chevron angle are 33°, 64° (double chevron) and 61°, repectively. The calculated results show that the heat transfer efficient for NT10 is higher than that of GC26 by approximately 6.35% and is higher than SW26 by 10.3%. The results indicate that the heat transfer characteristics for the double chevron plate outperform that of the single chevron plate. On the other hand, the pressure drop is also increased with the double chevron as well as chevron angle. However, it is found that the double chevron design provides a better heat transfer capability subject to identical pressure drop.