International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com [ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 10, Oct 2012]
Heat Transfer Analysis of Corrugated Plate Heat Exchanger of
Different Plate Geometry: A Review
Jogi Nikhil G.1, Assist. Prof. Lawankar Shailendra M.2
1
2
M.Tech student, Assistant Professor, Government College of Engineering, Amravati. Maharashtra, India
The entire assembly is held together by the tie bolts.
Individual plates are hung from the top carrying bar and are
guided by the bottom carrying bar. For single-pass
circuiting, hot and cold side fluid connections are usually
located on the fixed end cover. Multi-pass circuiting results
in fluid connections on both fixed and moveable end
covers. The plates are pressed to form troughs at right
angles to the direction of flow of the liquid which runs
through the channels in the heat exchanger. These troughs
are arranged so that they interlink with the other plates
which forms the channel with gaps of 1.3–1.5 mm between
the plates.
Abstract— Corrugated plate heat exchangers have larger
heat transfer surface area and increased turbulence level due
to the corrugations. In this study, experimental heat transfer
data will obtained for single phase flow (water-to-water)
configurations in a corrugated plate heat exchanger for
symmetric 45°/45°, 45°/75° chevron angle plates. The effect of
variation of chevron angles with other geometric parameter
on the heat transfer coefficient will be study. Reynold number
ranging from 500 to 2500 and Prandtl number ranging from
3.5 to 6.5 will be taken for given experiment.Based on the
experimental data, a correlation will estimate for Nusselt
number as a function of Reynolds number, Prandtl number
and chevron angle.
Keywords—Chevron angle, Corrugated plate heat
exchangers, Heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number,
Prandtl number, Reynolds number, Single phase flow.
I. INTRODUCTION
Plate Heat Exchangers have a number of applications in
the pharmaceutical, petrochemical, chemical, power, dairy,
food & beverage industry. Recently, plate heat exchangers
are commonly used when compared to other types of heat
exchangers such as shell and tube type in heat transfer
processes because of their compactness, ease of production,
sensitivity, easy care after set-up and efficiency.The
temperature approach in a plate heat exchangers may be as
low as 1 °C whereas shell and tube heat exchangers require
an approach of 5 °C or more.
A. Plate Heat Exchanger
As shown in Figure 1, the plate heat exchanger is
basically a series of individual plates pressed between two
heavy end covers. These plates are gasketed, welded or
brazed together depending on the application of the heat
exchanger. The basic geometry of plates used in plate heat
exchanger is shown in figure2.Stainless steel is a
commonly used metal for the plates because of its ability to
withstand high temperatures, its strength, and its corrosion
resistance.
Figure 1.Various parts of plate heat exchanger
Material required for plate heat exchanger parts :
Plate material - 316 stainless steel
Gasket material - Nitriale Butadiene Rubber (NBR)
Nozzle material - 316 stainless steel
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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com [ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 10, Oct 2012]
C. Geometric Parameter Affecting Plate Heat Exchanger
Chevron Angle, β: Typically varying from 20° to 65°, β is
the measure of softness (small β, low thermal efficiency
and pressure drop) and hardness (large β, high thermal
efficiency and pressure drop) of thermal and hydraulic
characteristics of plates. Some authors define ‗‗Π/2- β‖ as
the chevron angle.
Surface Enlargement Factor, φ: φ is the ratio of developed
area [based on corrugation pitch, Pc,and plate pitch, p] to
the projected area(viz. Lw×Lp , Lw = Lh+ Dp and Lp = Lv –
Dp)
Corrugation Depth or Mean Channel Spacing, b: b = p–t,
the difference between plate pitch, p and the plate
thickness, t
Channel Flow Area, Ax: Ax is the minimum flow area
between plates and is estimated as product of plate
corrugation depth and width of plate (i.e., Ax = b × Lw)
Channel Hydraulic Diameter, Dh: Dh is defined as four
times ratio of minimum flow area to wetted perimeter,
Dh = 2bLw/(b+Lw φ) .Since b<<Lw, Dh is usually taken to
be 2b/φ.
Figure 2. Basic geometry of chevron plate [15]
B. Fluid Flow in Plate Heat Exchanger
Figure 2, illustrates the nature of fluid flow through the
plate heat exchanger. The primary and secondary fluids
flow in opposite directions on either side of the plates.
Water flow and circuiting are controlled by the placement
of the plate gaskets. By varying the position of the gasket,
water can be channelled over a plate or past it. Gaskets are
installed in such a way that a gasket failure cannot result in
a mixing of the fluids. In addition, the outer circumference
of all gaskets is exposed to the atmosphere. As a result,
should a leak occur, a visual indication is provided.
D. Physical Parameters Affecting Plate Heat Exchanger
The six most important parameters are as follows:
• The amount of heat to be transferred (heat load).
• The inlet and outlet temperatures on the primary and
secondary sides.
• The maximum allowable pressure drop on the primary
and secondary sides.
• The maximum operating temperature.
• The maximum operating pressure.
• The flow rate on the primary and secondary sides.
Temperature Program: This means the inlet and outlet
temperatures of both media in the heat exchanger.
Heat Load: Disregarding heat losses to the atmosphere,
which are negligible, the heat lost (heat load) by one side of
a plate heat exchanger is equal to the heat gained by the
other. The heat load (P) is expressed in kW or kcal/h.
Logarithmic Mean Temperature Difference: Logarithmic
mean temperature difference (LMTD) is the effective
driving force in the heat exchanger.
Thermal Length: Thermal length (θ) is the relationship
between temperature difference dt on one side and LMTD.
Figure 3. Fluid flow in plate heat exchanger
 
111
dt
LMTD
International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com [ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 10, Oct 2012]
Thermal length describes how difficult a duty is from a
thermal perspective.
Thermal Length [θ]:
 
Density: Density (ρ) is the mass per unit volume and is
expressed in kg/m3 or kg/dm3.
Flow Rate: This can be expressed in two different terms,
either by weight or by volume. The units of flow by weight
are in kg/s or kg/h, the units of flow by volume in m3/h or
l/min. To convert units of volume into units of weight, it is
necessary to multiply the volume flow by the density.
Pressure Drop: Pressure drop (Δp) is in direct relationship
to the size of the plate heat exchanger. If it is possible to
increase the allowable pressure drop, and incidentally
accept higher pumping costs, then the heat exchanger will
be smaller and less expensive. As a guide, allowable
pressure drops between 20 and 100 kPa are accepted as
normal for water/water duties.
Specific Heat: Specific heat (cp) is the amount of energy
required to raise 1 kg of a substance by one degree
centigrade. The specific heat of water at 20°C is 4.182
kJ/kg °C or 1.0 kcal/kg °C.
Viscosity: Viscosity is a measure of the ease of flow of a
liquid. The lower the viscosity, the more easily it flows.
Viscosity is expressed in centipoises (cP) or centistokes
(cSt).
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient: Overall heat transfer
coefficient (U) is a measure of the resistance to heat flow,
made up of the resistances caused by the plate material,
amount of fouling, nature of the fluids and type of
exchanger used. Overall heat transfer coefficient is
expressed as W/m2 °C or kcal/h, m2 °C.
dt
LMTD
Logarithmic Mean Temperature Difference [LMTD]:
LMTD 
T1  T2
ln(T1 / T2 )
Here, T1  T1  T4 , T2  T2  T3
Where, T1 = Temperature inlet – hot side
T2 = Temperature outlet – hot side
T3 = Temperature inlet – cold side
T4 = Temperature outlet – cold side
Total Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient [U]:
1
1
1
x



 Rf
U
hhs hcs
k
Where,
hhs=The heat transfer coefficient between the hot
medium and the heat transfer surface [W/m2 °C]
hcs = The heat transfer coefficient between the heat
transfer surface and the cold medium[W/m2 °C]
Δx = The thickness of the heat transfer surface [m]
Rf = The fouling factor [m2 °C/W]
k = The thermal conductivity of the material
separating the medias [W/m °C]
Heat Transfer Correlation: The heat transfer correlation for
a fluid flow past a solid surface is expressed in a
dimensionless form is given as:
Nu  Nu(Re, Pr)
Where,
E. Heat Transfer Analysis
Heat Load, P:
Nu= Nusselt number
Re=Reynolds number
Pr =Prandtl number
For fully developed laminar flows, we expected the
Nusselt number Nu to be constant however for a turbulent
flow it is expressed as:
p  mc p dt
and
P  h  A  LMTD
Where,
Nu  C1 Re Pr 
P = heat load [kW]
m = mass flow rate [kg/s]
cp = specific heat [kJ/kg °C]
dt = temperature difference between inlet and
outlet on one side [°C]
h = heat transfer coefficient [W/m2 °C]
A = heat transfer area [m2]
LMTD = log mean temperature difference
Where,C1, α & β are constants.
II. LATERATURE SURVEY
Focke W. W. et al. [1] established that the inclination
angle between plate corrugations and the overall flow
direction is a major parameter in the thermo hydraulic
performance of plate heat exchangers.
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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com [ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 10, Oct 2012]
The observed maximum transfer rate at an angle of
about 80° is explained from the observed flow patterns. At
higher angles the flow pattern becomes less effective for
transfer, in particular at 90° marked flow separation is
observed.
Mehrabian M. A. and Pouter R. [2] studies the local
hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of the flow
between two identical APV SR3 plates and looks at the
effect of corrugation angle on the performance when the
plate spacing is fixed. The CFD calculations show that the
inclination angle between the plate corrugations and the
overall flow direction is a major parameter in the thermo
hydraulic performance of plate heat exchangers.
Metwally H. M. and Mbanglik R. M. [3] considered
Laminar periodically developed forced convection in
sinusoidal corrugated-plate channels with uniform wall
temperature and single-phase constant property flows. The
flow field is found to be strongly influenced by γ and Re,
and it displays two distinct regimes: a low Re or γ
undisturbed laminar-flow regime and a high Re or γ swirlflow regime.
Gradeck M. et al. [4] performed experiments to study
effects of hydrodynamic conditions on the enhancement of
heat transfer for single phase flow. These experiments have
been conducted for a wide range of Reynolds numbers, [0 <
Re < 7500] in order to obtain the different regimes from
steady laminar to turbulent. Finally they have pointed out a
strong relation between the wall velocity gradient and the
Nusselt number. Further investigations will be made on
two-phase and boiling flow.
Bobbili Prabhakara Rao et al. [5] carried out
experimental investigation to find the flow and the pressure
difference across the port to channel in plate heat
exchangers for a wide range of Reynolds number 1000–
17000. In their study, low corrugation angle plates have
been used for different number of channels, namely, 20 and
80. Water has been used as working fluid for both hot and
cold fluids.
Longo and Gasparella [6] carried out experiments using
water as a working fluid in herringbone type plate heat
exchanger with chevron angle of 65˚ and developed
Nusselt number correlation. They used modified Wilson
plot technique and incorporated variable fluid property
effects.
Garcı´a Cascales J. R. et al. [7] focused on the study of
heat transfer in plate heat exchangers working with R-22
and R-290, comparing different correlations for the
evaluation of the heat transfer coefficient.
Naphon Paisarn [8] presented the effect of relevant
parameters on the heat transfer characteristics and pressure
drop.
The corrugated plates of different corrugated tile angles
20°, 40° and 60° with the height of the channel of 12.5 mm
for the heat flux and the Reynolds number in the ranges of
0.5–1.2 kW/m2 and 500–1400 are tested. Due to the
presence of recirculation zones, the corrugated surface has
significant effect on the enhancement of heat transfer and
pressure drop.
Using the Buckingham Pi theorem, Lin J.H. et al. [9]
derives dimensionless correlations to characterize the heat
transfer performance of the corrugated channel in a plate
heat exchanger. The experimental data are substituted into
these correlations to identify the flow characteristics and
channel geometry parameters with the most significant
influence on the heat transfer performance.
Zhi-jian Luan et al. [10] designed a new-type
corrugation plate heat exchanger and carried out
experimental and numerical simulations for observing heat
transfer performance and effect of flow resistance of the
working fluid on it.
Warnakulasuriya and Worek [11] investigated heat
transfer and pressure drop of a viscous absorbent salt
solution in a commercial plate heat exchanger. Overall heat
transfer coefficient and Nusselt number are reported to
increase with Reynolds number while friction factor
decreased. Based on the experimental data, correlations for
Nusselt number and friction factor were proposed.
Tsai Ying-Chi et al.[12] investigated the hydrodynamic
characteristics and distribution of flow in two crosscorrugated channels of plate heat exchangers. The velocity,
pressure and flow distribution of the fluid among the two
channels of the plate heat exchanger with its local flow
characteristics around the contact points have been
proposed.
Dovic´ D. et al. [13] investigated characteristics of the
flow in chevron plate heat exchangers through visualization
tests of channels with β = 28˚and β = 61˚.Mathematical
model is then developed with the aim of deriving
correlations for prediction of f and Nu for flow in channels
of arbitrary geometry [β and b/l]
Durmus Aydın et al. [14] studied the effects of surface
geometries of three different type heat exchangers called as
PHEflat [Flat plate heat exchanger], PHE corrugated
[Corrugated plate heat exchanger] and PHE asteriks
[Asterisk plate heat exchanger] on heat transfer, friction
factor and exergy loss. The experiments were carried out
for laminar flow conditions with single pass in parallel and
counter flow direction having Reynolds number and
Prandtl number in the range of 50 ≤ Re ≤ 1000 and 3 ≤ Pr ≤
7, respectively.
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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com [ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 10, Oct 2012]
Khan T. S. et al. [15] carried out experiment for single
phase flow [water-to-water] configurations in a commercial
plate heat exchanger for symmetric 30˚/30˚, 60˚/60˚, and
mixed 30˚/60˚ chevron angle plates having Reynold
number ranging from 500 to 2500 and Prandtl number from
3.5 to 6.5. Based on the experimental data, a correlation to
estimate Nusselt number as a function of Reynolds number,
Prandtl number and chevron angle has been proposed.
Gherasim Iulian et al. [16] presented an experimental
investigation of the hydrodynamic and thermal fields in a
two channel chevron-type plate heat exchanger for laminar
and turbulent conditions. The friction factor for a Reynolds
number up to 850 and the Nusselt number for the hot
channel for a Reynolds number up to 1500 are presented.
Dh
ρ
Δp
γ
SUBSCRIPT
h
hs
cs
Hydraulic
Hot Surface
Cold Surface
REFERENCES
Focke W.W, Zachariades J., Olivier I. , 1985 ―The effect of the
corrugation inclination angle on the thermo hydraulic performance
of plate heat exchangers‖, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 28 [8], pp
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[2] Mehrabian M.A , Poulter R., 2000 ―Hydrodynamics and thermal
characteristics of corrugated channels: computational approach‖,
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[3] Metwally H.M. , Manglik R.M. ,2004 ―Enhanced heat transfer due to
curvature-induce lateral vortices in laminar flows in sinusoidal
corrugated-plate channels‖, International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer 47, pp 2283–2292
[4] Gradeck M. , Hoareau B., Lebouche M.,2005 ―Local analysis of heat
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[7] Garcı´a-Cascales J.R., Vera-Garcı´a F., Corber‘an-Salvador J.M.,
Gonz‘alvez- Maci‘a J. , 2007 ― Assessment of boiling and
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[8] Naphon Paisarn, 2007 ― Laminar convective heat transfer and
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corrugated channels‖, International
Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 34,pp 62–71
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heat transfer characteristics in the corrugated channels of plate heat
exchangers‖, International Communications in Heat and Mass
Transfer 34 ,pp 304–312
[10] Zhi-jian LUAN, Guan-min ZHANG, Mao-cheng TIAN, Ming-xiu
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[1]
III. CONCLUSION
Experiments have been performed to investigate heat
transfer characteristics of a commercial plate heat
exchanger with different chevron angles and other
geometrical parameters under turbulent flow conditions.
Reynolds number is varied from about 500–2500.Based on
the experimental data, a simplified Nusselt number
correlation incorporating effects of Reynolds number,
Prandtl number, viscosity variation and chevron angle
trying to be propose.
IV. FUTURE SCOPE
Different types of plates will also be tested and
investigated using the set-up constructed. Based on the
experimental results obtained from the set-up and the
computational fluid dynamics analysis of the same cases,
new correlations can be found for the different plate
geometries to be tested and analyzed.
With the result of new experiments, the selection
program can also be extended for new type of plate
geometries.
NOMENCLATURE
Dp
β
Lw
Lh
Pc
t
Lv
Lh
b
φ
Ax
Channel hydraulic diameter [m]
Density [kgm-3 or kgdm-3]
Pressure drop [kPa]
aspect ratios
Port diameter [m]
Chevron angle [⁰C]
Plate width [m]
Horizontal distance between centers of ports [m]
Corrugation pitch [m]
Plate thickness [m]
Vertical distance between centers of ports [m]
Horizontal distance between centers of ports [m]
Corrugation depth or mean channel spacing [m]
Surface enlargement factor
Channel flow area [m2]
114
International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com [ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 10, Oct 2012]
[13] Dovic´ D. , Palm B. , Švaic´ S. ,2009 ―Generalized correlations for
predicting heat transfer and pressure drop in plate heat exchanger
channels of arbitrary geometry‖, International Journal of Heat and
Mass Transfer 52 ,pp 4553–4563
[14] Durmus Aydın , Benli Huseyin , Kurtbas Irfan , Gul Hasan , 2009
―Investigation of heat transfer and pressure drop in plate heat
exchangers having different surface profiles‖, International Journal
of Heat and Mass Transfer 52,pp 1451–1457
[15] Khan T.S. , Khan M.S. , Chyu Ming-C. , Ayub Z.H. ,2010―
Experimental investigation of single phase convective heat transfer
coefficient in a corrugated plate heat exchanger for multiple plate
configurations‖, Applied Thermal Engineering 30 ,pp1058–1065
[16] Gherasim Iulian, Taws Matthew , Galanis a Nicolas , Nguyen Cong
Tam,2011―Heat transfer and fluid flow in a plate heat exchanger part
I. Experimental investigation‖, International Journal of Thermal
Sciences 50,pp 1492-1498
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