Experimental Study of Turbulent Flow Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in a Plate Heat Exchanger With Chevron Plates

TLDR

The study examined a single‑pass U‑type counterflow plate heat exchanger with chevron plates in three configurations (β = 30°/30°, 60°/60°, and 30°/60°), measured Nusselt number and friction factor for water (Pr ≈ 2–6, Re ≈ 600–10⁴), and derived predictive correlations for Nu and f as functions of β, φ, Re, Pr, and viscosity ratio. The experiments show that increasing the chevron angle β and surface area enlargement factor φ markedly raises heat transfer—up to five times higher Nusselt numbers and 13–44 times higher friction factors—yet at constant pumping power the heat transfer can be improved by as much as 2.8 times compared to an equivalent flat‑plate channel.

Abstract

Experimental heat transfer and isothermal pressure drop data for single-phase water flows in a plate heat exchanger (PHE) with chevron plates are presented. In a single-pass U-type counterflow PHE, three different chevron plate arrangements are considered: two symmetric plate arrangements with β = 30 deg/30 deg and 60 deg/60 deg, and one mixed-plate arrangement with β = 30 deg/60 deg. For water (2 < Pr < 6) flow rates in the 600 < Re < 104 regime, data for Nu and f are presented. The results show significant effects of both the chevron angle β and surface area enlargement factor φ. As β increases, and compared to a flat-plate pack, up to two to five times higher Nu are obtained; the concomitant f, however, are 13 to 44 times higher. Increasing φ also has a similar, though smaller effect. Based on experimental data for Re a 7000 and 30 deg ≤ β ≤ 60 deg, predictive correlations of the form Nu = C1,(β) D1(φ) Rep1(β)Pr1/3(μ/μw)0.14 and f = C2(β) D2(φ) Rep2(β) are devised. Finally, at constant pumping power, and depending upon Re, β, and φ, the heat transfer is found to be enhanced by up to 2.8 times that in an equivalent flat-plate channel.