Articles techniques et présentations

Chemical engineering students and practitioners need an understanding of fluid flow and heat transfer inside heat exchangers. Because the flow within plate heat exchangers is difficult to visualize, we developed COMSOL Multiphysics® simulations of plate heat exchangers for students to study alongside a physical heat exchanger in a laboratory setting. Simulative experiments allow students to investigate quickly a wide range of operations conditions and learn their effects on heat exchanger performance. Visualizing velocity, pressure, and temperature profiles inside the exchanger provides a deeper understanding of the physics behind the process. Particularly, temperature profiles illustrate why countercurrent operation is preferred to co-current operation, and velocity profiles illustrate why heat transfer coefficients increase with increasing flow rate and increasing internal corrugations.