Experimental and numerical studies on novel airfoil fins heat exchanger in flue gas heat recovery system

To improve the performance of waste heat recovery, a novel airfoil fins heat exchanger was applied to flue gas waste heat recovery. Two groups of experimental conditions were installed to test the heat effectiveness of the novel airfoil fins heat exchanger. The results showed that the heat effectiveness of the novel airfoil fins heat exchanger could reach more than 96%, which is higher than the conventional heat exchanger. The thermal-hydraulic performances of the novel airfoil channel, NACA 0020 airfoil channel and zigzag channel were investigated with the first and second laws of thermodynamics, which showed that the novel airfoil channel has the best comprehensive thermal-hydraulic performance among the three channels. The correlations of Nusselt number and friction factor of the novel airfoil fins heat exchanger were proposed for flue gas, whose maximum deviations were within +/- 5.0% and +/- 7.1%, respectively. The present work could provide guidance for the application of the novel airfoil fins heat exchanger in waste heat recovery.

Automated summary

The study found that the heat effectiveness of the novel airfoil fins heat exchanger can reach more than 96%, higher than conventional heat exchangers. The novel airfoil channel showed the best comprehensive thermal-hydraulic performance among the three channels in terms of thermodynamics and heat transfer. The proposed correlations for Nusselt number and friction factor of the novel airfoil fins heat exchanger had maximum deviations within +/- 5.0% and +/- 7.1% for flue gas, providing guidance for its application in waste heat recovery.