PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF A PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER AND ITS COMPARISON WITH DOUBLE PIPE EXCHANGER

Anunay Sanganal

Abstract: The primary focus of this paper is to evaluate the performance of a Plate type heat exchanger. The evaluation is carried out for namely two heat transfer parameters, heat transfer coefficient and heat exchanger effectiveness for varying Reynolds number of hot and cold fluids. From the experimental values of inlet and outlet temperatures measured, the above two parameters were calculated. The analytical approach for calculation is illustrated for one sample reading. The heat transfer coefficient and heat exchanger effectiveness was seen to increase with increasing Reynolds number of both the fluids. A PHE belongs to the family of compact plate heat exchangers. Therefore, the secondary objective was to compare the PHE with conventional heat exchanger i.e. Double pipe. The comparison was done on the basis of area required for a given temperature drop and heat transfer capacity. The numerical values of areas obtained confirmed that a PHE requires the least space for operation.

Keywords: Plate heat exchanger, Reynolds number, heat transfer coefficient, effectiveness, compact

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0506077