Numerical modelling and experimental testing of heat exchangers

Authors:

• Dawid Taler

Abstract

This monograph presents numerical modelling and experimental testing of heat exchangers with a particular focus on finned-tube cross-flow devices. Such exchangers are widely used in many industries, e.g., in power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants, as well as in gas and heating engineering and air-conditioning. Their characteristic feature is that liquid flows inside the tubes and gas flows in the direction perpendicular to the tube axis. This monograph presents the entire range of issues related to the single-phase convective heat transfer in heat exchangers, including design and operation calculations, as well as experimental testing of the devices. Much attention is devoted to the experimental determination of correlations for the gas- and the liquid-side Nusselt number that enable calculation of mean heat transfer coefficients in the whole heat exchanger. A detailed discussion of the procedures for the determination of the uncertainty of physical quantities or parameters determined indirectly, including parameters found using the least squares method based on a high number of measuring series, is presented.