1. Fractal branch-like fractal shell-and-tube heat exchangers: A CFD study of the shell side performance
- Author
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Daniel Sebastia-Saez, Niall Foster, Harvey Arellano-Garcia, Chachuat, Benoit, Bernard, Olivier, and Normey-Rico, Julio E.
- Subjects
Pressure drop ,0209 industrial biotechnology ,Materials science ,business.industry ,020208 electrical & electronic engineering ,Shell (structure) ,Mechanical engineering ,02 engineering and technology ,Computational fluid dynamics ,Coefficient of performance ,020901 industrial engineering & automation ,Fractal ,Control and Systems Engineering ,Heat exchanger ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Tube (container) ,business ,Shell and tube heat exchanger ,ComputingMethodologies_COMPUTERGRAPHICS - Abstract
Nature has provided some of the most ingenious and elegant solutions to complex problems over millions of years of refining through evolution. The adaptation of Nature ́s solutions to engineering problems is a recent trend which has opened opportunities for improvement in many areas ranging from Architecture to Chemical Engineering. In particular, the use of fractal geometries on heat exchangers is a recent design trend. Recent investigations highlight the benefit of implementing fractal-based geometries on the tube side of shell and tube heat exchangers. A complete evaluation of such devices by assessing the performance of the shell side has not been undertaken, though. Here, we present a systematic numerical assessment of the shell side of a tree-like shaped heat exchanger. Key performance parameters, i.e. temperature change, pressure drop and coefficient of performance, are obtained and compared to those of a straight tube, in order to fully understand the potential of the application of fractal-based shapes to the design of heat exchangers.
- Published
- 2019