Empirical Modeling and Meta-analysis of Heat Transfer in Plate Heat Exchangers

Abstract

Plate heat exchangers provide a compact and efficient alternative to bulky and spacious shell-and-tube heat exchangers. With numerous plates and flow passages, plate heat exchangers increase the flow transit time and enhance hot-fluid-to-cold fluid contact promoting higher heat transfer rates than conventional designs. Plate condensers and evaporators offer cost-effective, compact, and highly efficient alternatives to traditional surface condensers and evaporators. This article reports the empirical modeling and meta-analysis of over two-thousand heat transfer data compiled from thirty-five experimental investigations in the past three decades. The predictive correlations validated against an extensive database should be helpful to the industry and academia. Meta-analysis of the phase-change heat transfer data was statistically insignificant, and the current practice of deploying plate heat exchangers should be encouraged.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the University of Pretoria and the Vellore Institute of Technology for the research resources.

Disclosure statement

No conflicts of interest are reported.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yagnavalkya Mukkamala

Yagnavalkya Mukkamala is a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Vellore Institute of Technology in 2008 and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1993. He has published over seventeen articles in various peer-reviewed journals and peer-reviewed conference articles. He has completed several funded projects as a principal investigator for the Government of India and numerous as a student investigator for the US Department of Energy and NASA. He has been cited over two hundred and ten times and has an h-index of over eight. His research interests include enhanced heat transfer, design of enhanced heat exchangers, and automotive aerodynamics.

Jaco Dirker

Jaco Dirker is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pretoria. He received his Ph.D. from Rand Afrikaans University (University of Johannesburg) in 2004. He has published over 44 peer-reviewed journals and 44 peer-reviewed conference articles. He has completed over five research projects, with the most recent project being funded by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom for over R 9 million (South African Rand). He is a clean energy and enhanced heat transfer specialist and has supervised several doctoral theses and post-doctoral scholars. He is a registered professional engineer at the Engineering Council of South Africa.