Analysis of Heat Transfer, Friction Factor and Exergy Loss in Plate Heat Exchanger Using Fluent

Exergy analysis and energy saving are very important parameters in the heat exchanger design. The effects of surface geometry on heat transfer, friction factor and exergy loss were investigated analytically using fluent software for a flat plate heat exchanger. The analysis was carried out for a 1-1 pass heat exchanger under parallel and counter flow situations, for turbulent flow conditions. Both the heat exchanging fluids were water. It is found that the exergy loss increases with increase in the mass flow rate. Heat transfer rate increases while friction factor and thereby pressure loss decreases with increase in Reynolds number. The various correlations for a flat PHE obtained using fluent are Nu/Pr1/3= 0.0108 Re0.895 and friction factor f = 55Re-0.87. Pressure drop greatly increases the capital cost though heat transfer has larger effect on the exergy loss. For improving the heat transfer between the plates and minimizing the exergy loss, the analysis with the software may prove useful in the optimization method for selecting parameters of the plate heat exchangers.