Experimental-Numerical Method for Determining Heat Transfer Correlations in the Plate-and-Frame Heat Exchanger

Dawid Taler, Ewelina Ziółkowska, Jan Taler (), Tomasz Sobota, Magdalena Jaremkiewicz, Mateusz Marcinkowski and Tomasz Cieślik
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Dawid Taler: Department of Thermal Processes, Air Protection, and Waste Utilisation, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Ewelina Ziółkowska: Department of Energy, CUT Doctoral School, Cracow University of Technology, al. Jana Pawła II 37, 31-864 Cracow, Poland
Jan Taler: Department of Energy, Cracow University of Technology, al. Jana Pawła II 37, 31-864 Cracow, Poland
Tomasz Sobota: Department of Thermal Processes, Air Protection, and Waste Utilisation, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Magdalena Jaremkiewicz: Department of Thermal Processes, Air Protection, and Waste Utilisation, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Mateusz Marcinkowski: Department of Thermal Processes, Air Protection, and Waste Utilisation, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Tomasz Cieślik: Department of Thermal Processes, Air Protection, and Waste Utilisation, Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-27

Abstract: Plate heat exchangers are used in heat substations for domestic hot water preparation and building heating in municipal central heating systems. Water from the municipal water supply is heated by hot water from a district heating network. This paper presents a numerical method for simultaneously determining heat transfer correlations on the cold and hot water sides based on flow-thermal measurements of the plate heat exchanger. The unknown parameters in the functions approximating the Nusselt numbers, which depend on the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers, are determined using the least-squares method, so the sum of the squares of the differences in the calculated and measured temperatures at the heat exchanger outlet reaches a minimum. One or two correlations were sought for a plate heat exchanger, and the total number of parameters sought is between three and six. The limits of the 95% confidence intervals for all estimated parameters were also determined. Correlations for Nusselt numbers determined experimentally for a clean plate heat exchanger can be used in the online monitoring of the degree of fouling of plate heat exchangers installed in the substations of a large urban district heating network.

Keywords: plate-and-frame heat exchanger; thermal substation; heat transfer correlations; experimental testing; numerical method; scale deposits (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: 2025
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