Surface temperature and heat transfer measurements in cross-corrugated plate heat exchangers

Abstract

Two variables of importance in the design of cross-corrugated plate heat exchangers are the size (i.e, height and pitch) of the corrugation embossed on the plates, and the orientation of the corrugation with respect to the main flow direction. In this paper, such effects on the heat transfer performance of the exchanger are investigated. For this purpose, measurements were made on two especially designed test samples which were constructed by placing four clear corrugated plastic plates against each other to form three flow channels. While the height and pitch of the corrugation were fixed, the angle of inclination of the two samples was 45o and 60o. These samples were tested in a closed-circuit using hot and cold water, and data regarding temperatures and flow rates were recorded. While the present results are in general agreement with those in the literature, contrary to what has been

reported has been found that, the 45o sample has a better thermal performance than the 60o sample for Re >1300; for lower Re's, the trends are identical