The transient and steady-state response of single pass constant-flow (concentric parallel flow, concentric counter flow) heat exchangers was investigated using a finite volume method. Heat exchanger transients initiated by both step-change and sinusoidally varying hot stream inlet temperatures were investigated. The wall separating the fluid streams was modeled by conduction with thermal mass; hence the heat exchanger transient behavior is dependent on the thermal mass of the fluid streams as well as the internal wall. The outer wall is approximated as fully insulating. The time dependent temperature profiles were investigated as a function of heat exchanger dimensionless length and dimensionless time for both fluids. It was found that the transient response of the heat exchanger is controlled by a combination of the residence time and thermal capacitance of the fluid streams, the overall heat transfer coefficient between the fluid streams, and the thermal capacitance of the internal wall.

Volume Subject Area:
Modeling and Simulation
Topics:
Flow (Dynamics), Heat exchangers, Transients (Dynamics), Fluids, Capacitance, Exterior walls, Finite volume methods, Heat conduction, Heat transfer coefficients, Steady state, Temperature, Temperature profiles
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