Heat transfer and condensation of water vapour from humid air in compact heat exchangers

In this thesis, an experimental and simulation study of heat transfer in water-to-air compact-plate heat exchanger is presented. A compact-plate heat exchanger made of polypropylene, in which flow pattern is maintained as counter-current, was constructed to conduct the experiments. Experiments were conducted for different operation conditions of hot and cold fluids, in which hot water is considered hot streams and air is considered cold streams. The thermal performance of the plate heat exchanger was analysed using the experimental data. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package FLUENT® was used to predict the fluid flow and heat transfer in the plate heat exchanger and to study the transient response of the system to changes of inlet temperature for both fluids. The results of the heat rejection rate are presented for the heat exchanger, which is simulated according to the configuration of the plate heat exchanger used in the experiments. The model was also simulated at different operation conditions and compared with experimental data. The simulated results are in good agreement with experimental results.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Victoria University

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Saraireh, Mohammad

• 0203 Classical Physics
• School of Engineering and Science

Language dc:language

en