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Reducing the Flow Maldistribution in Heat Exchangers through a Novel Polymer Manifold: Numerical Evaluation

Author

Listed:
  • Mingkan Zhang

    (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA)

  • Cheng-Min Yang

    (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA)

  • Kai Li

    (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA)

  • Kashif Nawaz

    (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA)

Abstract

The maldistribution of working fluid is one of the issues in heat exchangers that causes a reduction in performance of not only the heat exchanger but also the entire HVAC system. One of the methods to reduce such maldistribution is to improve manifold design to evenly distribute the flow. In the present work, an advanced maldistribution reduction manifold, which was based on a preliminary maldistribution reduction manifold, was designed to further improve the flow distribution in the heat exchanger. In the design, spiral baffles are used to create vortices in the tubes to regulate the flow in each tube. The design also keeps the tubes away from the manifold inlet to avoid direct flow from the inlet. Due to the complexity, the design of the advanced maldistribution reduction manifold is for AM only, which cannot be fabricated by traditional manufacturing. To evaluate the design, a computational fluid dynamic model is developed to study flow distribution in heat exchanger manifolds. The simulation results reveal that the relative standard deviation of the tubes in the advanced maldistribution reduction design is half of the preliminary maldistribution reduction design and about 1/20 of the reference design.

Suggested Citation

  • Mingkan Zhang & Cheng-Min Yang & Kai Li & Kashif Nawaz, 2023. "Reducing the Flow Maldistribution in Heat Exchangers through a Novel Polymer Manifold: Numerical Evaluation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:20:p:7120-:d:1261391
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Xiang Peng & Denghong Li & Jiquan Li & Shaofei Jiang & Qilong Gao, 2020. "Improvement of Flow Distribution by New Inlet Header Configuration with Splitter Plates for Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-14, March.
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