Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger

The present article addresses the design, mathematical modelling and analysis of a novel highly exergy-efficient air to air heat exchanger. An intricate design based on an hexagonal mesh is proposed for the cross-sectional area of the heat exchanger with aims to explore the performance gains that ca...

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Main Authors: Cárdenas, Bruno, Garvey, Seamus, Kantharaj, Bharath, Simpson, Michael
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44949/
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author Cárdenas, Bruno
Garvey, Seamus
Kantharaj, Bharath
Simpson, Michael
author_facet Cárdenas, Bruno
Garvey, Seamus
Kantharaj, Bharath
Simpson, Michael
author_sort Cárdenas, Bruno
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The present article addresses the design, mathematical modelling and analysis of a novel highly exergy-efficient air to air heat exchanger. An intricate design based on an hexagonal mesh is proposed for the cross-sectional area of the heat exchanger with aims to explore the performance gains that can be obtained by exploiting the capabilities and benefits offered by modern fabrication techniques such as additive manufacturing. Special attention is paid to understanding the relationship or trade-off that exists between the overall exergy efficiency of the heat exchanger and its cost. The iterative algorithm used to find the geometrical parameters that yield the best performance in terms of volume of material required per unit of exergy transfer at a certain level of efficiency, as well as the assumptions and simplifications made, are comprehensively explained. It has been found through the analyses carried out performed, which are thoroughly discussed throughout the paper, that if the characteristic dimension of the heat exchanger is scaled up by a factor of n, the volume of material per kW of exergy transfer at certain exergy efficiency will increase by a factor of n squared. This is a very important observation, possibly applicable to other types of heat exchangers, that indicates that performance improves dramatically at smaller scales. The overall performance of the case study presented is satisfactory, a volume of material as low as 84.8 cm3 for one kW of exergy transfer can be achieved with a 99% exergy efficiency.
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spelling nottingham-449492020-05-04T18:33:32Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44949/ Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger Cárdenas, Bruno Garvey, Seamus Kantharaj, Bharath Simpson, Michael The present article addresses the design, mathematical modelling and analysis of a novel highly exergy-efficient air to air heat exchanger. An intricate design based on an hexagonal mesh is proposed for the cross-sectional area of the heat exchanger with aims to explore the performance gains that can be obtained by exploiting the capabilities and benefits offered by modern fabrication techniques such as additive manufacturing. Special attention is paid to understanding the relationship or trade-off that exists between the overall exergy efficiency of the heat exchanger and its cost. The iterative algorithm used to find the geometrical parameters that yield the best performance in terms of volume of material required per unit of exergy transfer at a certain level of efficiency, as well as the assumptions and simplifications made, are comprehensively explained. It has been found through the analyses carried out performed, which are thoroughly discussed throughout the paper, that if the characteristic dimension of the heat exchanger is scaled up by a factor of n, the volume of material per kW of exergy transfer at certain exergy efficiency will increase by a factor of n squared. This is a very important observation, possibly applicable to other types of heat exchangers, that indicates that performance improves dramatically at smaller scales. The overall performance of the case study presented is satisfactory, a volume of material as low as 84.8 cm3 for one kW of exergy transfer can be achieved with a 99% exergy efficiency. Elsevier 2017-02-25 Article PeerReviewed Cárdenas, Bruno, Garvey, Seamus, Kantharaj, Bharath and Simpson, Michael (2017) Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger. Applied Thermal Engineering, 113 . pp. 278-289. ISSN 1873-5606 Gas to gas heat exchanger High exergy efficiency heat exchanger Non-constant cross sectional area Heat exchanger additive manufacturing Heat exchanger cost optimization http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359431116324115?via%3Dihub doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.10.209 doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.10.209
spellingShingle Gas to gas heat exchanger
High exergy efficiency heat exchanger
Non-constant cross sectional area
Heat exchanger additive manufacturing
Heat exchanger cost optimization
Cárdenas, Bruno
Garvey, Seamus
Kantharaj, Bharath
Simpson, Michael
Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger
title Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger
title_full Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger
title_fullStr Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger
title_full_unstemmed Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger
title_short Parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger
title_sort parametric investigation of a non-constant cross sectional area air to air heat exchanger
topic Gas to gas heat exchanger
High exergy efficiency heat exchanger
Non-constant cross sectional area
Heat exchanger additive manufacturing
Heat exchanger cost optimization
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44949/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44949/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44949/