Comparison of Thermal-Hydraulic Performance of V-bend, Lbend and U-bend Zigzag Channels Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Heat exchangers are very important equipment in chemical and process industries. For this reason,improving performance and increasing their efficiency has always been considered. In recent study, thethermal-hydraulic performance of three types of zigzag channels was investigated using ComputationalFluid Dynamics (CFD). The V-bend zigzag Channels (VZC), the L-bend zigzag Channels (LZC), andthe U-bend zigzag Channels (UZC) were studied. The length of all channels was equal to ۲.۳ metersand their hydraulic diameter was determined to be ۰.۰۱ meters. The working fluid in this study waswater and the flow inside channels was turbulent and the Reynolds (Re) range was selected from ۲۰۰۰۰to ۶۰۰۰۰. Fluid flow was considered to be fully developed. The standard k-epsilon model was used formodeling. Boundary and initial conditions for modeling were equal to constant temperature of ۳۵۳ Kfor channels wall and temperature of inlet fluid to channel equal to ۲۹۸ K. The VZC The zigzag channelhad the best thermal performance, but at the same time, it also had the weakest hydraulic performance.The UZC had the best hydraulic performance and weakest thermal performance. In total, the THP ofthe UZC was higher and better than the other channels.

Keywords:

Heat transfer , Pressure drop , Heat exchangers , Zigzag channels , Thermal-hydraulicperformance (THP) , Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)