PIV experimental investigation of entrance configuration on flow maldistribution in plate-fin heat exchanger

Flow characteristics of flow field in the entrance of plate-fin heat exchanger have been investigated by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV). The velocity fields were measured using the two-frame cross-correlation technique. A series of velocity vector and streamline graphs of different cross-sections are achieved in the experiment. The experimental results indicate that performance of fluid maldistribution in conventional entrance configuration is very serious, while the improved entrance configuration with punched baffle can effectively improve the performance of fluid flow distribution in the entrance. Based on the analysis of the fluid flow maldistribution, a baffle with small holes is recommended to install in the entrance configuration in order to improve the performance of flow distribution. When the punched baffle is proper in length, the small holes is distributed in staggered arrangement, and the punched ratio gradually increases from central axis to the boundary along with the baffle length, the performance of flow distribution in plate-fin heat exchanger is effectively improved by the Optimum design of the entrance configuration. The flow maldistribution parameter S in plate-fin heat exchanger has been reduced from 1.21 to 0.209 and the ratio of the maximum velocity to the minimum theta is reduced from 23.2 to 1.76 by installing the punched baffle. The results validate that PIV is well suitable to investigate complex flow pattern and the conclusion of this paper is of great significance in the optimum design of plate-fin heat exchanger. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.