Performance enhancement for tube bank staggered configuration heat exchanger-CFD Study

The effect of attaching a splitter plate to the circular tube on the performance of a heat exchanger with a circular tube bank is investigated. A CFD model is developed to simulate the cross-flow behavior inside the heat exchanger. The study of the thermal performance of the tube bank heat exchanger with staggered configuration with and without attached splitter plates to the tubes is conducted. The numerical results are compared with previous experimental and numerical data. Results show that attaching the splitter plates to the tubes can reduce the pressure drop and increase the Nusselt number leading to better overall thermal performance for the heat exchangers and indicate that the splitter plates should be as thin as possible to keep the optimum overall performance. As the splitter thickness is increased to about 20 % of the pipe diameter the heat transfer is slightly increased by about 7 % but the pressure drop is dramatically increased by about 20%. As splitter length is increased up to L/D ratio of 1.5, the heat transfer is doubled, the pressure drop as well is increased by about 20%.

Automated summary

Attaching splitter plates to circular tubes in a heat exchanger can improve thermal performance by reducing pressure drop and increasing Nusselt number. However, the splitter plates should be as thin as possible for optimal performance. Increasing the thickness of the splitter plates slightly increases heat transfer but significantly increases pressure drop, while increasing the length of the splitter plates can double the heat transfer but also increase pressure drop.