Determination of Heat Transfer Correlations for Fluids Flowing through Plate Heat Exchangers Needed for Online Monitoring of District Heat Exchanger Fouling

Tomasz Romanowicz, Jan Taler, Magdalena Jaremkiewicz () and Tomasz Sobota
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Tomasz Romanowicz: Department of Energy, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Jan Taler: Department of Energy, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Magdalena Jaremkiewicz: Department of Thermal Processes, Air Protection, and Waste Utilisation, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Tomasz Sobota: Department of Thermal Processes, Air Protection, and Waste Utilisation, Cracow University of Technology, 31-155 Cracow, Poland

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-14

Abstract: This article deals with the problem of estimating the degree of fouling of plate heat exchangers (PHEs) used in district heating substations (where the working medium is water). A method for calculating the thermal resistance of fouling is proposed based on a comparison of the thermal resistance of a fouled and clean heat exchanger. The thermal resistance of the heat exchanger for both fouled and clean apparatuses is determined as the inverse of their overall heat transfer coefficient. In the method, the heat transfer coefficients necessary to determine the overall heat transfer coefficient of the clean exchanger are calculated using a modified Wilson method. Moreover, the heat transfer coefficients on the clean heat exchanger plates’ cold water side are determined based on experimental tests. The computational algorithm presented in this paper will make it possible to develop software to monitor and thus optimise the operation of district heating substations.

Keywords: plate heat exchangers; thermal resistance of the fouling; Nusselt number correlation; Wilson method (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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