Numerical Investigation on the Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Supercritical Liquefied Natural Gas in an Airfoil Fin Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger

Zhongchao Zhao, Kai Zhao, Dandan Jia, Pengpeng Jiang and Rendong Shen
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Zhongchao Zhao: School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 210000, China
Kai Zhao: School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 210000, China
Dandan Jia: School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 210000, China
Pengpeng Jiang: School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 210000, China
Rendong Shen: School of Energy and Power, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 210000, China

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: As a new kind of highly compact and efficient micro-channel heat exchanger, the printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) is a promising candidate satisfying the heat exchange requirements of liquefied natural gas (LNG) vaporization at low and high pressure. The effects of airfoil fin arrangement on heat transfer and flow resistance were numerically investigated using supercritical liquefied natural gas (LNG) as working fluid. The thermal properties of supercritical LNG were tested by utilizing the REFPROF software database. Numerical simulations were performed using FLUENT. The inlet temperature of supercritical LNG was 121 K, and its pressure was 10.5 MPa. The reference mass flow rate of LNG was set as 1.22 g/s for the vertical pitch L v = 1.67 mm and the staggered pitch L s = 0 mm, with the Reynolds number of about 3750. The SST k-? model was selected and verified by comparing with the experimental data using supercritical liquid nitrogen as cold fluid. The airfoil fin PCHE had better thermal-hydraulic performance than that of the straight channel PCHE. Moreover, the airfoil fins with staggered arrangement displayed better thermal performance than that of the fins with parallel arrangement. The thermal-hydraulic performance of airfoil fin PCHE was improved with increasing L s and L v . Moreover, L v affected the Nusselt number and pressure drop of airfoil fin PCHE more obviously. In conclusion, a sparser staggered arrangement of fins showed a better thermal-hydraulic performance in airfoil fin PCHE.

Keywords: printed circuit heat exchanger; airfoil fin; supercritical liquefied natural gas (LNG); thermal-hydraulic performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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