Literature Review on CFD Application for Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Design

Sancheti Santosh D. A. Research Scholar, CRD, PRIST University,Vallam, India E-mail:santusancheti@gmail.com Dr.P.R.Suresh B. Professor, Mechanical, N.S.S. College,Palakkad Kerala India E-mail : sureshpr101@gmail.com

ABSTRACT Orthodox methods used for the design and development of Heat Exchangers are essentially monotonous and high-priced in todays aggressive market. CFD has developed as a cost effective substitute and it offers prompt result to heat exchanger design and optimization. Straightforwardly accessible general purpose CFD commercial software can fulfill the requirements of CFD analysis of different types of heat exchangers. Like Plate, Shell and Tube, Vertical Mantle, Compact Exchangers. These are tractable an adequate amount to adjust any kind of analysis requirement ranging from forecast of fluid flow behavior to complete heat exchanger design and optimization involving a wide range of turbulence models and integrating schemes available in CFD software. KEYWORDS CFD, Helical Coil Heat Exchanger, Design I. INTRODUCTION This literature review emphases on the uses of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in the arena of heat exchangers. It has been set up that CFD has been employed for the following extents of analysis in different types of heat exchangers: fluid flow, pressure drop, fouling, maldistribution, and thermal analysis in the design and optimization stage. The quality of the results acquired from these simulations are principally inside the appropriate range proving that CFD is an efficient tool for forecasting the behavior and performance of a wide variety of heat exchangers.[2] CFD is a scientific tool that can be very useful for study of fluid flow, heat transfer, chemical reactions etc. by resolving mathematical equations with the help of numerical analysis. It is similarly helpful in designing a heat exchanger structure from scratch as well as in troubleshooting by signifying design reformations. CFD uses a very easy principle of resolving the whole system in small cells or grids and applying governing equations on these discrete elements to find numerical Solutions for pressure allocation, temperature gradients, flow parameters in a shorter time at a lesser expenditure because of reduced needed experimental work The importance of compact heat exchangers (CHEs) has been acclaimed in gas turbine power plant, automobile, aerospace, and other industries for the last 40 years or more. This is due to numerous factors, for example packaging constraints, occasionally high performance requirements, low cost, and the make use of air or gas as one of the fluids in the exchanger. For the last 20 years or so, the additional driving factors for heat exchanger design have been reducing energy consumption for

operation of heat exchangers and process plants, and reducing the initial investment in process. As an outcome, in process industries where compact heat exchangers were not us, themed commonly, started use of plate heat exchangers and other CHEs has been increasing due to some of the intrinsic advantages mentioned above. In addition, Helical Coil Heat Exchangers offer the decrease of floor space, decrease in fluid supply in closed system exchangers, use as multi functional units, and tighter process control with liquid and phase-change fluids. [17] One of the encouraging aspects of heat exchanger developments in the last decade or so has been that the historical sectional divisions make use of compact heat exchangers (like Helical coil heat Exchanger ), have been breaking down. These sectors, includes like process and cryogenic, power, refrigeration, automotive, aerospace are experiencing growing cross- fertilization of technology. Thus the advances in rapid development and understanding in the well recognized application areas of different types of plate-fin exchangers for cryogenic(gas separation) exchangers, gas turbine and the automobile sectors have come together, and have impacted on the power production, refrigeration and process industries. Computational Fluid Dynamics or CFD is the analysis of systems concerning fluid flow, heat transfer and connected properties like chemical reactions by means of computer-based simulation. The system is very useful and covers a wide extend of industrial and non-industrial application areas. Some examples are: In aircraft and vehicles for aerodynamics of : lift and drag ships for Hydrodynamics Power plant and case of combustion in IC engines and gas turbines For determining flows inside rotating passages, diffusers etc (Turbo machinery:) cooling of equipment consisting of micro- circuits in case of Electrical and electronic engineering: Chemical process engineering: Mixing and separation, polymer moulding wind loading and heating ventilation External and internal atmosphere of buildings: Marine engineering: loads on off-shore structures In environmental engineering: identify distribution of pollutants and effluents Pattern of flows in rivers, estuaries, oceans (Hydrology and oceanography) Meteorology: weather prediction

CFD code
CFX

Company
AEA Technology Fluent Inc Concentration Heat & Momentum Ltd Computational Dynamics Ltd Flow Science, Inc CFD Research Corporation ICEM Technologies Analytical Methods, Inc (AMI) Computational Mechanics Company, Inc NUMECA International SA Amtec Engineering, Inc Engineering Systems International SA Advanced Visual Systems, Inc Softflo

Web site
http://www.software.aeat.com /cfx/ http://www.fluent.com/ http://www.cham.co.uk/

FLUENT PHOENICS

STAR-CD

http://www.cd.co.uk

It makes it realizable to calculate approximately geometric variations with much less time and cost than would be disturbed in laboratory testing.[3] It can answer many what if questions in a short time. It is possible to scratch scale-up difficulties because the models are based on primary physics and are scale unprejudiced. It is predominantly favourable in simulating circumstances where it is not possible to take extensive measurements such as high temperature or dangerous atmosphere like in an oven. Since it is a practical examination and design tool, it can climax the root cause not just the effect when gauging plant problems III. EXECUTING A CFD ANALYSIS To perform a CFD analysis, the analyst will state the problem and use technical knowledge to direct it mathematically. Then the CFD software package will embody this know-how and states the stated problem in scientific terms. Lastly, the computer will perform the calculations dictated by CFD software and the analyst will inspect and understand their results.[3]In principle, three different major tasks should be done to perform a CFD simulation (Shaw, 1992). 3.1Pre-processing All the tasks that take place before the numerical solution process are called pre-processing. This consist of problem thinking, meshing and generation of a CFD model. Problem thinking is the first stage in using CFD.(19) In advance committing to practice, it is significance thinking about the physics of the problem that is faced. In this stage the analyst should consider the flow problem and try to understand as much as possible about it. The second stage is meshing. In this stage the analyst should create the shape of the problem domain that needs to be analyses.[10] This can usually be done with the help of a standard CAD program. It is easily achievable to import data created by such program into a CFD package. After that the object domain is sub-divided into numerous cells, also known as volumes and elements. The majority CFD packages have the program to do meshing and define the shape concurrently. Fig. 1 shows an example Helical coil. Once meshing has been completed, the boundaries of the problem domain can be found and the essential boundary conditions, determined in the preliminary stage, should be applied. These conditions collectively with some fluid parameter and physical properties indicate the actual flow problem to be solved. Advanced CFD software packages have the program to carry out the following operations: defining a grid of points, also volumes or elements, defining the boundaries of the geometry, apply the boundary environment, specifying the initial conditions, setting the fluid properties and setting the numerical control parameters. However, it is not easy to generate a complicated mesh

FLOW3D CFD-ACE

http://www.flow3d.com http://www.cfdrc.com

ICEM CFD AMI-VSAERO

http://icemcfd.com/icepak.htm l http://www.am-inc.com

STORESIM/TE TME

http://www.comco.com/

IGG

http://www.numeca.com/

TECPLOT

http://www.amtec.com/

PAM-FLOW

http://www.esi.com.au/

AVS/EXPRESS

http://www.avs.com/

FLO++

http://www.softflo.com/
[3]

Table 1 Commercial CFD code list

II.

ADVANTAGES OF USING CFD

CFD has grown-up from a mathematical novelty to become a fundamental tool in almost every branch of fluid dynamics. It allows for inscrutable analysis of the fluid mechanics and local effects in a lot of equipment. [4] Most of the CFD results will give better- quality implementation, better reliability, more confident scale-up, improved product reliability, and higher plant productivity (Bakker et al., 2001). Some design engineers actually use CFD to analyse new systems before determining which and how many validation trials need to be performed. The advantages of CFD can be categorized as (Wanot, 1996): It provides a complete understanding of mass and heat transfer, weight losses, flow distribution particulate separation, etc. that help to realize what is phenomenon in a Particular process or system.

CFD simulation maldistribution. Authors/Type

in

heat

exchangers

for

fluid

flow

CFD Methodology

Comparison between Experimental and Simulation Results

A good agreement observed

Myoung Il Kim et al. (2008) Shell and Tube Type Heat Exchanger Figure 1: Grid of the helical pipe used for analysis [1]

3.2. Processing Processing involves using a computer to solve mathematical equations of fluid flow. Once the meshing is accomplished, the model input values should be precisely specified and then the CFD software can solve the equations of state for each cell until an good enough convergence is reached. This is a very exhaustive process and usually it requires the machine to solve thousands of equations.[12]In each case, the equations are integrated and the boundary conditions are applied to it. This is known as equation discretisation and is applied to each individual cell of the mesh. The process is repeated in an iterative manner until a required accuracy is achieved. This step can be a time-consuming process and although it is the core of any CFD software package. 3.3. Post-processing The post-processing system is used to make assessment of the data generated by the analysis. When the model has been solved, the results can be analyzed by both methods i.e. numerically and graphically. Post-processing tools of the prevailing CFD software can create visualization ranging from graceful 2-D graphs to 3-D representation [11] Classic graphs obtained with the post-processor may contain a section of the mesh concurrently with vector plots of the velocity field or contour plots of scalar variables like pressure. In such graphs, colors are used to distinguish between the different size of the values. [10] When some results have been obtained, they must be analyzed, first to check that the solution is acceptable and then to decide the actual flow data that is required from the simulation.

S. A. Fernandes et al. (2012) Shell and Tube Type Heat Exchanger

CFD Code: FLUENT 6.0 Turbulence Model: k _ PressureVelocity Coupling Scheme: SIMPLEC Mesh: Tetrahedral Turbulence Model:Momentu m Resistance Approach using k _ model
[2]

Generally less than 3% Up to 10% for large rise in velocity

Table 2: CFD Application and results

1.2 Fouling This occurs when a solute in the fluid stream is precipitated and crest formed, either directly on the heat transfer surface, or in the fluid, to be subsequently deposited on the surface. When the fluid concerned is water, and calcium or magnesium salts are deposited, the mechanism is frequently referred to as scaling. Waxes can also precipitate out as temperatures of fluids are reduced through the heat exchanger. [2] Scaling is a function of wall temperature and possibly also of kinetics. The wall temperature profile through most compact heat exchangers is well-defined relative to that in shell and tube units, and it is suggested (Clarke, 1994) that a less conservative view of scaling should be taken with CHEs, and any permissible increase in the outlet temperature of sea water, when used as a coolant, would be welcomed because of the associated reduction it brings in pump sizes, etc.[4] It is important to note that there are a number of compounds, known as inverse solubility salts, which exhibit a reduction in solubility with increasing temperature. These include calcium carbonate and magnesium silicate. In these cases, identification of the highest cooling water temperature likely to occur in a heat exchanger with narrow channels is therefore important for determining the water treatment Degradation of the working fluid because of high temperatures or interaction with the exchanger walls results in production of by products which get deposited on the walls and reduce the coefficient of heat transfer. Frequent periodic maintenance may be required if extreme cases of fouling are encountered. This incident is recurrently encountered in the food processing industry mostly concerning PHEs and have been investigated by using CFD by various authors. 4.3. Pressure drop

IV.

RELEVANCE OF CFD IN DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF

HEAT EXCHANGERS

4.1. Flow maldistribution Non-uniformity in fluid flow is one of the primary reasons resulting in a poor heat exchanger performance. This may be attributed to improper design of inlet/outlet port and header configuration, dispenser construction and plate corrugations [7]. A number of researchers as shown in Table 2below have Approached the maldistribution problem using CFD by using an mixture of turbulence models and integrating scheme concentrating on pressure variation and velocity distribution. [6]

Every fluid undergoes some pressure drop during flowing through heat exchanger. This incident is mainly affected by the selection of design of core or the matrix and the fluid distribution mechanism i.e. headers, nozzles, inlet/outlet ports, ducts and etc [6] [17] This pressure loss predominantly because of flow distribution devices seriously affects the heat transfer rate of the exchanger. Enlarge in pipe diameter, considering the inlet velocity constant, causes higher heat transfer coefficient and lower pressure drop. This result is due to the persuade of secondary flows. [14] As the PCD is enlarged, the centrifugal forces decreases and these results in decrease of heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. In CFD this phenomenon can be examine very easily.. [15][16] . 4.4 Thermal analysis The important principle of a heat exchanger is to improve the heat Transfer between two fluids. This reduces the energy necessities and helps make a process more professional both in terms of manufacturing and finances. Evaluation of inner heat transfer coefficient for the two-phase flow was conceded out by changing the void fraction and flow velocity. Results be a sign of reduction in heat transfer coefficient with increase in void fraction With the help of CFD analysis,[13] researchers have approached thermal characteristics of heat exchangers from two points of examination i.e. effect of physical features on heat transfer rate and thermal coefficients . 4.5 Design optimization Ever in view of the fact that its arrival, CFD has proven to be an successful tool in the design optimization of the heat exchangers by studying thermal properties. It has been in use to study different modifications [5], compare results [8, 9] and present the best promising combination of variables to make certain optimum performance [5]. CFD analysis was united with the analytical and multiobjective genetic algorithms methods correspondingly to determine the optimum design and the results obtained from the two approaches were compared.[11]The second was establish more helpful as it did not only help find the optimum dimensions but also the shape of the optimum design structure too. The outcome result of the exchanger was found greatly affected by the aspect ratio; it is defined as ratio of height to the width of a object. However, the heat transfer rate amplified to some extent and stabilized at an overall aspect ratio of 30.

simulations generally yield results within good agreement with the experimental studies ranging from 2% to 10% while in some exceptional cases, vary up to 36%. If the deviations are large, user defined sub routines specific to the design problem may become necessary. The results of CFD software have reached a point making it an essential part of all design processes, thus the need of costly prototyping can be wards eliminated.

REFERENCES
[1]

J.S. Jayakumar, S.M. Mahajani, J.C. Mandal, Kannan N. Iyer , P.K.

Vijayan CFD analysis of single-phase flows inside helically coiled tubes Computers and Chemical Engineering 34 ,page 430 446,2010 Muhammad MahmoodAslamBhutta*, Nasir Hayat, Muhammad Hassan Bashir CFD applications in various heat exchangers design: A review Applied Thermal Engineering 32 , 1 -12,2012 Bin Xia, Da-Wen Sun Applications of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the food industry: a review Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 34 page 524,2002 Ramesh K. Shah and Duan P. Sekulic Fundamentals of Heat Exchanger Design JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC 2003 Prabhanjan, D. G., Rennie, T. J., &Raghavan, G. S. V. Natural convection heat transfer from helical coiled tubes. International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 43(4),359365.2004 Jayakumar, J. S., Mahajani, S. M.,Mandal, J. C., Vijayan, P. K., &Bhoi, R. Experimental and CFD estimation of heat transfer in helically coiled heat exchangers. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 86(3), 221232.2008 K. Grijspeerdt, B. Hazarika, D. Vucinic, Application of computational fluid dynamics to model the hydrodynamics of plate heat exchangers for milk processing, J. Food Eng. 57 pages 237 242,2003 C. Habchi, T. Lemenand, D.D. Valle, H. Peerhossaini, Turbulent mixing and residence time distribution in novel multifunctional heat exchangersereactors, Chem. Eng. Process 49,page 1066-1075,2010 V. Nagarajan, V. Ponyavin, Y. Chen, M.E. Vernon, P. Pickard A.E. Hechanova, CFD modeling and experimental validation of sulphur trioxide decomposition in bayonet type heat exchanger and chemical decomposer for different packed bed designs, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 34 (2009) 2543-2557 A.S. Bansode, S. Patel, T.R. Kumar, B. Muralidhar, T. Sundararajan, S.K. Das, Numerical simulation of effects of flow maldistribution on heat and mass transfer in a PEM fuel cell stack, Heat Mass Transf 43 page 1037-1047,2007 I.H. Kim, H.C. No, J.I. Lee, B.G. Jeon, Thermal hydraulic performance analysis of the printed circuit heat exchanger using helium test facility and CFD simulations, Nucl. Eng. Des 239 page 2399-2408. 2009 V.A.A. Raj, R. Velraj, Heat transfer and pressure drop studies on a PCM-heat exchanger module for free cooling applications , Heat Transfer Eng. 30 Pages 1123-1135. 2011 Czop, V., D. Barbier, and S. Dong., 1994, Pressure drop, void fraction and shear stressmeasurements in an adiabatic two-phase flow in a coiled tube. Nucl Eng Des, Vol.149, pp 323-333. Huttl, T.J. and Friedrich, R., 2000, Influence of curvature and torsion on turbulent flow inhelically coiled pipes, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow, 21, 345-353 Jayakumar J. S., S.M. Mahajani, J.C. Mandal, P.K. Vijayan, Rohidas Bhoi, 2008a,Experimental and CFD estimation of heat transfer in helically coiled heat exchangers Chemical Engineering

[2]

[3]

[4] [5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

V.

CONCLUSION

[12]

From this review it is observed that the use of CFD in case Helical coil Heat Exchanger is very useful to determine of Flow maldistribution, Fouling, Pressure drop, Thermal analysis and Design optimization. Heat transfer characteristics of the heat exchanger with helical coil are also studied using the CFD code. The CFD predictions match reasonably well with the experimental results within experimental error limits.[11] Based on the results a correlation was developed to calculate the inside heat transfer coefficient of the helical coil. The

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

Research and Design, Volume 86, Issue 3,March 2008, Pages 221232. Rangacharyulu, K. and G. S. Davies. 1984. Pressure drop and holdup studies of air-liquidflow in helical coils. The Chem Eng J, Vol. 29, pp 41-46. Vimal Kumar, Supreet Saini, Manish Sharma and K D P Nigam, 2006, Pressure drop and heat transfer in tube-in-tube helical heat exchanger, Chem. Eng. Sci. 61, 4403 4416 John E. Hesselgreaves COMPACT HEAT EXCHANGERS Selection, Design and Operation PERGAMON Publication,2001 Page 6-11 Pragati Kaushal* and Sharma HK 2011 Concept of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and its Applications in Food Processing Equipment Design,Journal of food processing and Technology