Numerical simulation of shell-side flow and heat transfer characteristics in new type plate-shell heat exchanger

A new type plate-shell heat exchanger was proposed.Calculation models were built up for the heat exchanger with two different plate bundle cross-sections.Numerical simulations were carried out for the shell-side fluid flow and heat transfer with Fluent software.The turbulent flow and heat transfer enhancement in shell-side were discussed in several aspects.The simulation results show that due to the special honeycomb structure of the plate,the fluid near the wall has a clear cyclical wave flow,which increases the fluid flow turbulence intensity and boundary layer disturbance,to strengthen the heat transfer effect in shell side.For two different forms of heat exchanger cross-section,the heat exchanger with circular cross-section can get higher space utilization,fully fluid flow,and better heat exchange effect.At the same flow rate,the heat transfer coefficient of the heat exchanger with circular cross-section is higher than that with square cross-section by 35%-40%,pressure drop is higher by 17%-19%,and the unit pressure drop heat transfer coefficient of shell side is higher by 15%-19%.The numerical results have theoretical and practical value for plate-shell heat exchanger study.