Hydraulic performance of a microchannel PCHE

Abstract

A newly developed type PCHE (Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger), which has a longitudinal corrugation flow channel, was fabricated using etching and diffusion bonding to evaluate its hydraulic performance. The result of a three-dimensional numerical simulation are presented, conducted using commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software FLUENT in the lower Reynolds number range (Re < 150). The validity of the numerical results through comparison with the measured data obtained via experimentation with helium gas is demonstrated. The results of CFD prediction show fairly good agreement with experimental data. The local friction factors associated with different hydraulic diameters and inclination angles are discussed. The correlation of the friction factor is presented from numerical simulation results. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.