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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

CFD investigation of a unit cell inside a Plate Heat Exchanger

Ly, Mattias LU (2023) MVKM01 20231
Department of Energy Sciences
Abstract (Swedish)
A numerical investigation of the unit cell approach has been done to reduce
the computational cost for CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) of plate heat
exchangers (PHE) at Alfa Laval. The reduced cost would enable LES (Large
Eddy Simulation) to be done which would give a more detailed and accurate
insight into the flow and heat transfer processes of the PHE. The unit cell which
is repeatable in all directions is created by cutting out a small domain consisting
of four contact points between the upper and lower plate of a full plate channel.
Simulations of the unit cell have been done using LES in the software Ansys Fluent
and compared with simulations of a whole plate done by Karlsson et al. [1]. The
method of going from CAD... (More)
A numerical investigation of the unit cell approach has been done to reduce
the computational cost for CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) of plate heat
exchangers (PHE) at Alfa Laval. The reduced cost would enable LES (Large
Eddy Simulation) to be done which would give a more detailed and accurate
insight into the flow and heat transfer processes of the PHE. The unit cell which
is repeatable in all directions is created by cutting out a small domain consisting
of four contact points between the upper and lower plate of a full plate channel.
Simulations of the unit cell have been done using LES in the software Ansys Fluent
and compared with simulations of a whole plate done by Karlsson et al. [1]. The
method of going from CAD (Computer Aided Design) to a CFD simulation of
the unit cell has been developed and evaluated resulting in a recommendation
regarding the method. It was found that the unit cell was able to capture the
large-scale physics while the smaller scales were overpredicted. Taking this into
consideration the method seems promising but still has room for improvement. (Less)
Popular Abstract
The transport of heat from hot to cold mediums is called heat transfer. It can be used for either heating or cooling machines, electronics food, etc. in industry. Examples are the cooling of a car engine or recovering heat from a power plant turbine. In these types of applications, it is practical to use fluids of high heat capacity as mediums for transferring heat as this means they that they are to able carry more thermal energy per degree Kelvin. An effective way to transfer heat between hot and cold fluids is to use a plate heat exchanger (PHE). A PHE consists of multiple stacked plates that forms separate channels for the fluids which exchange heat between the thin plates. The corrugated geometry of the plates increases the surface... (More)
The transport of heat from hot to cold mediums is called heat transfer. It can be used for either heating or cooling machines, electronics food, etc. in industry. Examples are the cooling of a car engine or recovering heat from a power plant turbine. In these types of applications, it is practical to use fluids of high heat capacity as mediums for transferring heat as this means they that they are to able carry more thermal energy per degree Kelvin. An effective way to transfer heat between hot and cold fluids is to use a plate heat exchanger (PHE). A PHE consists of multiple stacked plates that forms separate channels for the fluids which exchange heat between the thin plates. The corrugated geometry of the plates increases the surface area as well as the turbulence in the flow which both increases the heat transfer. An increasingly used tool in industry and in research to understand and visualize the complex flow as well as heat transfer processes is Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The method uses computational power and numerics to solve these problems that are in most cases too complex to do by hand using empirical relations. Since the entire flow and heat transfer fields are solved in the simulated domain the post-processing possibilities are endless enabling the user to visualize the physics in 3D space as well as over time. However, doing a detailed simulation on a full plate of a heat exchanger would require vast computational resources. In an effort to reduce the computational cost this thesis investigates the idea of using a unit cell consisting of four contact points which could reduce the computational domain by factors of 100 or even thousand. This would enable the use of more accurate and detailed simulations within a reasonable time. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ly, Mattias LU
supervisor
organization
course
MVKM01 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Plate Heat Exchanger, CFD, Computational Fluid Dynamics, LES, Large Eddy Simulation, Periodic, Unit Cell
report number
LUTMDN/TMHP-23/5537-SE
ISSN
0282-1990
language
English
id
9124115
date added to LUP
2023-06-14 09:16:35
date last changed
2023-06-14 09:16:35
@misc{9124115,
  abstract     = {{A numerical investigation of the unit cell approach has been done to reduce
the computational cost for CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) of plate heat
exchangers (PHE) at Alfa Laval. The reduced cost would enable LES (Large
Eddy Simulation) to be done which would give a more detailed and accurate
insight into the flow and heat transfer processes of the PHE. The unit cell which
is repeatable in all directions is created by cutting out a small domain consisting
of four contact points between the upper and lower plate of a full plate channel.
Simulations of the unit cell have been done using LES in the software Ansys Fluent
and compared with simulations of a whole plate done by Karlsson et al. [1]. The
method of going from CAD (Computer Aided Design) to a CFD simulation of
the unit cell has been developed and evaluated resulting in a recommendation
regarding the method. It was found that the unit cell was able to capture the
large-scale physics while the smaller scales were overpredicted. Taking this into
consideration the method seems promising but still has room for improvement.}},
  author       = {{Ly, Mattias}},
  issn         = {{0282-1990}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{CFD investigation of a unit cell inside a Plate Heat Exchanger}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}