IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v69y2014icp728-741.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multi-channel heat exchanger-reactor using arborescent distributors: A characterization study of fluid distribution, heat exchange performance and exothermic reaction

Author

Listed:
  • Guo, Xiaofeng
  • Fan, Yilin
  • Luo, Lingai

Abstract

A multi-functional heat exchanger-reactor comprising arborescent (tree-like) distributors and collector, 16 mini-channels in parallel and T-mixers is introduced in this paper. Flow distribution property, pressure drop and heat exchange performance of proposed heat exchanger-reactor are tested and discussed. Firstly, flow distribution uniformity is characterized by CFD simulation and then qualitatively confirmed by visualization experiment. Results show that for total flowrates ranging from 5 mL s−1 to 20 mL s−1, good distribution uniformity is obtained, with maximum flowrate deviation less than 10%. Then, experiments of heat exchange between hot and cold water are carried out. High values of overall heat transfer coefficient ranging from 2000 to 5000 W m−2 °C−1 are obtained under our working conditions. The volumetric heat exchange capability (UA/V) is found to be around 200 kW m−3 °C−1, showing a high heat exchange capability with compact design. The roles of end-effect and non-established flow are discussed and are supposed to be responsible for efficient heat transfer. Finally a typical fast exothermic reaction, neutralization between acid and basic solutions, is carried out to test the thermal control capability of the studied heat exchanger-reactor. Results indicate that isothermal condition could be realized by circulating appropriate flowrate of coolant through the heat exchanger.

Suggested Citation

  • Guo, Xiaofeng & Fan, Yilin & Luo, Lingai, 2014. "Multi-channel heat exchanger-reactor using arborescent distributors: A characterization study of fluid distribution, heat exchange performance and exothermic reaction," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 728-741.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:69:y:2014:i:c:p:728-741
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2014.03.069
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544214003338
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2014.03.069?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Hoseong & Saleh, Khaled & Hwang, Yunho & Radermacher, Reinhard, 2012. "Optimization of novel heat exchanger design for the application to low temperature lift heat pump," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 204-212.
    2. Walmsley, Michael R.W. & Walmsley, Timothy G. & Atkins, Martin J. & Neale, James R., 2013. "Methods for improving heat exchanger area distribution and storage temperature selection in heat recovery loops," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 15-22.
    3. Cheng, XueTao, 2013. "Entropy resistance minimization: An alternative method for heat exchanger analyses," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 672-678.
    4. Zaversky, Fritz & Sánchez, Marcelino & Astrain, David, 2014. "Object-oriented modeling for the transient response simulation of multi-pass shell-and-tube heat exchangers as applied in active indirect thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 647-664.
    5. Pan, Ming & Jamaliniya, Sara & Smith, Robin & Bulatov, Igor & Gough, Martin & Higley, Tom & Droegemueller, Peter, 2013. "New insights to implement heat transfer intensification for shell and tube heat exchangers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 208-221.
    6. Cheng, Xuetao & Liang, Xingang, 2012. "Optimization principles for two-stream heat exchangers and two-stream heat exchanger networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 386-392.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Guo, Xiaofeng & Hendel, Martin, 2018. "Urban water networks as an alternative source for district heating and emergency heat-wave cooling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 79-87.
    2. Wei, Min & Fan, Yilin & Luo, Lingai & Flamant, Gilles, 2015. "Fluid flow distribution optimization for minimizing the peak temperature of a tubular solar receiver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 663-677.
    3. He, Li & Fan, Yilin & Bellettre, Jérôme & Yue, Jun & Luo, Lingai, 2020. "A review on catalytic methane combustion at low temperatures: Catalysts, mechanisms, reaction conditions and reactor designs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Ebrahimzadeh, Edris & Wilding, Paul & Frankman, David & Fazlollahi, Farhad & Baxter, Larry L., 2016. "Theoretical and experimental analysis of dynamic heat exchanger: Retrofit configuration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 545-560.
    5. Jafari, Davoud & Wits, Wessel W., 2018. "The utilization of selective laser melting technology on heat transfer devices for thermal energy conversion applications: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 420-442.
    6. Wei, Min & Fan, Yilin & Luo, Lingai & Flamant, Gilles, 2017. "Design and optimization of baffled fluid distributor for realizing target flow distribution in a tubular solar receiver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 126-134.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ebrahimzadeh, Edris & Wilding, Paul & Frankman, David & Fazlollahi, Farhad & Baxter, Larry L., 2016. "Theoretical and experimental analysis of dynamic heat exchanger: Retrofit configuration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 545-560.
    2. Wang, Chaoyang & Liu, Ming & Zhao, Yongliang & Qiao, Yongqiang & Yan, Junjie, 2018. "Entropy generation analysis on a heat exchanger with different design and operation factors during transient processes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 330-342.
    3. Huang, Kefeng & Karimi, I.A., 2016. "Work-heat exchanger network synthesis (WHENS)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1006-1017.
    4. Daróczy, László & Janiga, Gábor & Thévenin, Dominique, 2014. "Systematic analysis of the heat exchanger arrangement problem using multi-objective genetic optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 364-373.
    5. Li, Xiaolei & Xu, Ershu & Song, Shuang & Wang, Xiangyan & Yuan, Guofeng, 2017. "Dynamic simulation of two-tank indirect thermal energy storage system with molten salt," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1311-1319.
    6. Li, Nianqi & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Sunden, Bengt & Wu, Zan & Wang, Qiuwang & Zeng, Min, 2022. "Heat exchanger network synthesis considering detailed thermal-hydraulic performance: Methods and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    7. Liu, Long & Wang, Mingqing & Chen, Yu, 2019. "A practical research on capillaries used as a front-end heat exchanger of seawater-source heat pump," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 170-179.
    8. Hamid, Mohammed O.A. & Zhang, Bo & Yang, Luopeng, 2014. "Application of field synergy principle for optimization fluid flow and convective heat transfer in a tube bundle of a pre-heater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 241-253.
    9. Hoz, Jordi de la & Martín, Helena & Montalà, Montserrat & Matas, José & Guzman, Ramon, 2018. "Assessing the 2014 retroactive regulatory framework applied to the concentrating solar power systems in Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1377-1399.
    10. Sheikholeslami, M. & Ganji, D.D., 2016. "Heat transfer enhancement in an air to water heat exchanger with discontinuous helical turbulators; experimental and numerical studies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(P1), pages 341-352.
    11. Wang, Enhua & Zhang, Hongguang & Fan, Boyuan & Ouyang, Minggao & Yang, Kai & Yang, Fuyuan & Li, Xiaojuan & Wang, Zhen, 2015. "3D numerical analysis of exhaust flow inside a fin-and-tube evaporator used in engine waste heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 800-812.
    12. Pan, Ming & Bulatov, Igor & Smith, Robin, 2016. "Improving heat recovery in retrofitting heat exchanger networks with heat transfer intensification, pressure drop constraint and fouling mitigation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 611-626.
    13. Walmsley, Timothy G. & Walmsley, Michael R.W. & Atkins, Martin J. & Neale, James R., 2014. "Integration of industrial solar and gaseous waste heat into heat recovery loops using constant and variable temperature storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 53-67.
    14. Wei, Min & Fan, Yilin & Luo, Lingai & Flamant, Gilles, 2015. "Fluid flow distribution optimization for minimizing the peak temperature of a tubular solar receiver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 663-677.
    15. Younus Hamoudi Assaf & Abdulrazzak Akroot & Hasanain A. Abdul Wahhab & Wadah Talal & Mothana Bdaiwi & Mohammed Y. Nawaf, 2023. "Impact of Nano Additives in Heat Exchangers with Twisted Tapes and Rings to Increase Efficiency: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.
    16. Sadighi Dizaji, Hamed & Jafarmadar, Samad & Hashemian, Mehran, 2015. "The effect of flow, thermodynamic and geometrical characteristics on exergy loss in shell and coiled tube heat exchangers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 678-684.
    17. Peiró, Gerard & Gasia, Jaume & Miró, Laia & Prieto, Cristina & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2016. "Experimental analysis of charging and discharging processes, with parallel and counter flow arrangements, in a molten salts high temperature pilot plant scale setup," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 394-403.
    18. Liu, Pu & Cui, Guomin & Xiao, Yuan & Chen, Jiaxing, 2018. "A new heuristic algorithm with the step size adjustment strategy for heat exchanger network synthesis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 12-24.
    19. Sachajdak, Andrzej & Lappalainen, Jari & Mikkonen, Hannu, 2019. "Dynamic simulation in development of contemporary energy systems – oxy combustion case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 964-973.
    20. Ravanbakhsh, Mohammad & Gholizadeh, Mohammad & Rezapour, Mojtaba, 2023. "3E thermodynamic modeling and optimization a novel of ARS-CPVT with the effect of inserting a turbulator in the solar collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 591-607.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:69:y:2014:i:c:p:728-741. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.