The Effects of Inlet Temperature Nonuniformity in a Crossflow Plate-fin Heat Exchanger

Abstract

A finite element analysis of a cross-flow plate-fin compact heat exchanger is presented. The analysis takes into account the effects of non-uniform inlet fluid temperature distributions on both hot and cold fluid sides. Temperature mal-distribution models are generated considering possible deviations in fluid temperatures. Using fluid temperature mal-distribution models, exchanger effectiveness and its deterioration due to the effects of temperature non-uniformity are calculated for various design and operating conditions of the exchanger. It was found that the performance deviations are quite significant in some typical applications due to the temperature non-uniformity on a cross-flow plate-fin heat exchanger.