Thermal Performance Deterioration in Crossflow Heat Exchanger due to the Flow Nonuniformity

Abstract

A mathematical method to determine the effectiveness of the crossflow heat exchanger accounting for the effect of two-dimensional nonuniform fluid flow distribution is presented. By using a successive substitution technique, the exchanger effectiveness and its deterioration due to the fluid flow nonuniformity effect have been calculated for four typical fluid flow maldistributions. A Flow Nonuniformity Factor has been developed as the principal parameter for predicting the degree of deterioration of the exchanger effectiveness.