Plate heat exchanger | EPFL Graph Search

A plate heat exchanger is a type of heat exchanger that uses metal plates to transfer heat between two fluids. This has a major advantage over a conventional heat exchanger in that the fluids are exposed to a much larger surface area because the fluids are spread out over the plates. This facilitates the transfer of heat, and greatly increases the speed of the temperature change. Plate heat exchangers are now common and very small brazed versions are used in the hot-water sections of millions of combination boilers. The high heat transfer efficiency for such a small physical size has increased the domestic hot water (DHW) flowrate of combination boilers. The small plate heat exchanger has made a great impact in domestic heating and hot-water. Larger commercial versions use gaskets between the plates, whereas smaller versions tend to be brazed. The concept behind a heat exchanger is the use of pipes or other containment vessels to heat or cool one fluid by transferring heat betwee

Polymer spiral film gas-liquid heat exchanger for waste heat recovery in exhaust gases

Antoine Breton

In this master thesis report the development of an innovative spiral heat exchanger based on polymer materials is described. Building prototypes, erection of a test bench and firsts tests of the heat exchanger are presented. The heat exchanger prototype survived all tests especially several days in contact with aggressive gases. A facility integrating a Diesel exhaust gases production has been developed to test this heat exchanger design. Performance results obtained during the tests are analysed. Measurement acquisition software developed with Labview was also used. Challenges have been overcome to run the facility in stable conditions in order to obtain reliable measurement. Heat load recovery achieved with the presented heat exchanger is in the range of 1.5 kW thermic but potential heat recovery about 3.5kW might be achievable. Overall heat transfer coefficient is improved compared to other polymer based heat exchanger design. Pressure drop on gas channel is in the range of several mbar and must be further improved and fouling must be minimized. Such a design based on polymer film technology provides better corrosion and chemical resistance compared to conventional metal heat exchangers. Due to the smooth surface of polymer film fouling is reduced. Series production and usage of such heat exchangers would allow operating low temperature waste heat recovery in gases at affordable costs. One promising application is heat recovery in soiled gases in combination with ORC power generation.

2012

Improved methodology for analysis and design of Molten Salt Reactors

Rodrigo Gonzalez Gonzaga De Oliveira

Molten Salt Reactors is a class of advanced reactors that is typically characterised by the presence of a molten inorganic salt of a fissile material as fuel. At the moment, this class of reactors is considered one of the promising options in the long run of nuclear power.In the context of safety assessment of the MSFR, a task on analysis of selected transients was planned by the SAMOFAR project, to which this thesis should contribute. In addition, fluids with high melting temperature bring with them challenges regarding solidification of the fluid and possible flow blockage, to which a method was implemented during this thesis to evaluate the consequences. The open core cavity with curved shape adds another issue where the core is highly turbulent and requires the use of unstructured mesh codes for routine analysis, adding uncertainty and computational burden to the analytical workflow. Using ATARI, the tool developed during this thesis, we:1. Analyse the MSFR together with partners in support of a safety assessment task.2. Consider the impact and how to include solidification/melting in an analytical methodology.3. Evaluate options to manage/reduce uncertainties and the burden of routine use of high-fidelity codes.After a careful derivation of the conservation laws and assembling the code main algorithms, ATARI undergoes verification in a limited scope using the Stefan problem, manufactured solutions and energy balances.The nuclear cavity benchmark was performed between SAMOFAR partners showing equivalency of the codes within the scope of the benchmark. Then the participating institutions perform analysis of the MSFR for the safety assessment task, which ATARI is unable to followup with the transient analysis. The reason for failure is identified as the requirement of appropriate acceleration schemes by OpenFOAM-based multiphysics solvers, and the lack of one in ATARI.In the lack of accurate data regarding the heat exchangers, the impact of solidification is evaluated in a few simplified cases of a pipe with square cross-section and heat exchanger. For different salt compositions and different boundary conditions, the heat exchanger is found to recover from blockage if pump maintains its momentum and some cross-flow is allowed. The recovery of cases with abrupt solidification is questionable due to the required pressure head.The use of flow baffles is investigated as an option to structure the flow inside the reactor and reduce uncertainties originating from turbulence modelling while allowing the use of structured mesh codes for analysis. The concept is tested in a chloride based MSR, which retains its breed and burn mode while showing a quasi-1D flow appropriate for modelling with legacy codes.We recommend that the nuclear cavity benchmark should be expanded to include a more demanding transient case, representative of MSFR transient analysis requirements. A case is made for homogenised and economical models as used in ATARI to enable the practical use of coupling methods that promote the simultaneous solution of equations. A niche for ATARI is found as a special-mission code for analysis of challenging cases with deforming structure and flow field that justifies the use of unstructured meshes and the added computational burden. Due to design uncertainties and their nature, it is recommended to consider solidification implicitly when analysing the MSFR fuel circuit.

EPFL2021

Thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of energy tunnels

Matthias Timothee Stanislas Wojnarowicz

Subsurface geothermal in combination with Ground Heat Exchanger (GHE) and heat pumps systems had proved over the past decade to be an effective way in space heating and cooling. GHE’s embedded in geostructures such as tunnels has become more and more attractive in the current state where we try to mitigate greenhouse gas effects. The scope of this paper is to provide a fully coupled numerical model to assess the different physical aspects of an energy tunnel such as the kinetic and thermal boundaries layers development, thermally induce stress, and the heat generation. To do so, a finite element model is used to assess the heat exchange between, the GHE, the concrete lining, the air within the tunnel, the surrounding ground, and groundwater flow. The numerical model is then confronted with data from real-scale experimentation that was performed in Torino in 2018. The predictions from the numerical model show a quite good match with the data from the experimental prototype. Later on, similar models are generated to assess the effect of the heat exchange on air velocity and temperature within the tunnel as well as the induced thermal stress. The numerical results highlight the formation of both the kinematic and thermal boundary layer and shows that those boundaries are affected by the GHE’s activation. For the kinematic aspect, the lower temperatures observed in the vicinity of the heat exchangers tend to lower the velocity magnitude especially close to the wall surface. This change in velocity may be linked to a buoyancy effect cause by the lower temperature of the air in this regions. Indeed natural convection occurs along the tunnel, cooler fluid is pushed down while the warmer fluid rise; locally a lower temperature tends to decrease the viscosity of the fluid and increase its volumic mass. It was observed that the activation of GHE’s enhances this phenomenon in their vicinity due to the temperature gradient that they produce. Moreover, GHE’s activation tends to increase the overall turbulence of the flow and thus the eddies’ formation. The locations of those disturbance are difficult to predict due to the fact that small disturbance may generate large vorticity within the flow. However, it is shown that after passing the GHE zone, the velocity profile tends to stabilize to the undisturbed case. The kinematic entry length seems to happen further down the stream in the case where GHE’s are activated. This is due to the temperature disturbance generated by GHE’s activation. This phenomenon is increased with respect to the number of GHE loops activated. Furthermore, some probing was performed in the vicinity of the heat exchanger to assess the thermal induce stress due to the heating operation. The recorded stress shows peaks at early stages due to the higher temperature gradient that is generated between the GHE’s and concrete at beginning. Finally, after some time, the temperature reaches a steady state hence the stabilized thermal response recorded.

2020