Analytical and comparative investigations on counter flow heat exchanger using computational fluid dynamics

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive and exclusive thermodynamic analysis of counter flow heat exchanger under various operating and geometrical conditions. Analysis system (ANSYS) workbench 14.0 has been used for computational analysis and comparison with previous literature has been carried out in view of variable temperature and mass flow rate of hot and cold fluids. An analytical and statistical method of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is used for simulation and validation of the heat exchanger under steady and dynamic operating conditions. A 3-D model of a heat exchanger having 1000 mm and 1200 mm outside and inside tube lengths with diameter 12.7 mm is designed in ANSYS environment using Renormalization Group (RNG) k-ε approach in order to get the better effectiveness of the system. The variable effects of the steady-state temperature and mass flow rate are investigated. The influence of turbulence over the temperature and pressure profiles is also studied. Moreover, the analytical outcome of the present investigations is compared with that of previous existing literature and found to be in agreement with the previous studies. The proposed analysis presents an in-depth perspective and simulation of temperature gradient profile through the length of heat exchanger. The proposed modified design of heat exchanger along with changing flow direction yields much better results with small computational error 0.66% to 1.004% and 0.83% to 1.05% with respect to change in temperature and mass flow rate respectively.