Abstract
Plate heat exchangers are commonly used in various industrial applications, such as refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps, powerplants, and chemical industries. Plate heat exchangers are well known for their superior heat transfer performance, compactness, and low refrigerant charge. Despite offering several advantages, they suffer from flow maldistribution issues. The flow maldistribution can deteriorate both the heat transfer and pressure drop performance, ultimately resulting in a lower system efficiency where plate heat exchangers are deployed. The flow maldistribution issues become more pronounced when the heat exchanger size is relatively large and the number of plates is higher, limiting the deployment of plate heat exchangers in larger industrial systems. Consequently, analyzing and understanding the flow maldistribution behavior in plate heat exchangers and finding ways to mitigate flow maldistribution related issues become essential topics of interest. This review aims to address the effect of flow maldistribution on plate heat exchanger characteristics. First, the experimental and numerical works on flow maldistribution under single-phase and two-phase conditions are detailed. Subsequently, the end-channel and end-plate effects are discussed. Then, the methods to mitigate flow maldistribution in plate heat exchangers are outlined. Finally, based on a thorough literature survey and industrial requirements, future research directions are recommended.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 114905 |
| Journal | Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews |
| Volume | 207 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2025 |
Funding
This work was sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office (BTO) under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by the technology managers, Mr. Antonio Bouza and Dr. Payam Delgoshaei. The authors would like to acknowledge the colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who provided useful comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the review. This manuscript has been authored in part by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). This work was sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy\u2019s Building Technologies Office (BTO) under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by the technology managers, Mr. Antonio Bouza and Dr. Payam Delgoshaei. The authors would like to acknowledge the colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who provided useful comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the review.
Keywords
- Distributor
- Flow maldistribution
- Heat transfer
- Plate heat exchanger
- Pressure drop