The effect of hemispherical chevrons angle, depth, and pitch on the convective heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in compact plate heat exchangers

Abstract

<em>Plate heat exchangers are widely used in industries due to their special characteristics, such as high thermal efficiency, small size, light weight, easy installation, maintenance, and cleaning. The purpose of this study is to consider the effect of depth, angle, and pitch of hemispheric Chevrons on the convective heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. In the simulation of the heat exchanger, water and stainless steel are chosen for fluid and plate materials, respectively. The process is considered to be steady state, single-phase, and turbulent. In brief results show that the convective heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop decrease where the Chevrons depth and pitch increase. Moreover, these parameters enhance increment of the Chevrons angle up to 90°, after which they decrease with the Chevron angle. lastly, results are compared with Kumar equation which has been presented for corrugated plates. Maximum relative difference in this comparison is approximately 30%. As a result, a new correlation is proposed for the convective heat transfer coefficient in terms of the Reynolds number and the plate geometry.</em>