Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer Model
A new strategy for fast, approximate analyses of fluid flow and heat transfer is presented. It is based on Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and is intended for large yet structurally fairly simple heat transfer equipment commonly used in process and power industries (e.g., cross-flow tube bundle heat e...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-04-01
|
| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/7/1664 |
| _version_ | 1797571620317954048 |
|---|---|
| author | Tomáš Létal Vojtěch Turek Dominika Babička Fialová Zdeněk Jegla |
| author_facet | Tomáš Létal Vojtěch Turek Dominika Babička Fialová Zdeněk Jegla |
| author_sort | Tomáš Létal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A new strategy for fast, approximate analyses of fluid flow and heat transfer is presented. It is based on Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and is intended for large yet structurally fairly simple heat transfer equipment commonly used in process and power industries (e.g., cross-flow tube bundle heat exchangers), which can be described using sets of interconnected 1-D meshes. The underlying steady-state model couples an FEA-based (linear) predictor step with a nonlinear corrector step, which results in the ability to handle both laminar and turbulent flows. There are no limitations in terms of the allowed temperature range other than those potentially stemming from the usage of fluid physical property computer libraries. Since the fluid flow submodel has already been discussed in the referenced conference paper, the present article focuses on the prediction of the tube side and the shell side temperature fields. A simple cross-flow tube bundle heat exchanger from the literature and a heat recovery hot water boiler in an existing combined heat and power plant, for which stream data are available from its operator, are evaluated to assess the performance of the model. To gain further insight, the results obtained using the model for the heat recovery hot water boiler are also compared to the values yielded by an industry-standard heat transfer equipment design software package. Although the presented strategy is still a “work in progress” and requires thorough validation, the results obtained thus far suggest it may be a promising research direction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:43:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b6d9a6eb9a04411a8342ff8db52e5db4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:43:14Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-b6d9a6eb9a04411a8342ff8db52e5db42023-11-19T20:33:38ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-04-01137166410.3390/en13071664Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer ModelTomáš Létal0Vojtěch Turek1Dominika Babička Fialová2Zdeněk Jegla3Institute of Process Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2, 61669 Brno, Czech RepublicInstitute of Process Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2, 61669 Brno, Czech RepublicInstitute of Process Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2, 61669 Brno, Czech RepublicInstitute of Process Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2, 61669 Brno, Czech RepublicA new strategy for fast, approximate analyses of fluid flow and heat transfer is presented. It is based on Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and is intended for large yet structurally fairly simple heat transfer equipment commonly used in process and power industries (e.g., cross-flow tube bundle heat exchangers), which can be described using sets of interconnected 1-D meshes. The underlying steady-state model couples an FEA-based (linear) predictor step with a nonlinear corrector step, which results in the ability to handle both laminar and turbulent flows. There are no limitations in terms of the allowed temperature range other than those potentially stemming from the usage of fluid physical property computer libraries. Since the fluid flow submodel has already been discussed in the referenced conference paper, the present article focuses on the prediction of the tube side and the shell side temperature fields. A simple cross-flow tube bundle heat exchanger from the literature and a heat recovery hot water boiler in an existing combined heat and power plant, for which stream data are available from its operator, are evaluated to assess the performance of the model. To gain further insight, the results obtained using the model for the heat recovery hot water boiler are also compared to the values yielded by an industry-standard heat transfer equipment design software package. Although the presented strategy is still a “work in progress” and requires thorough validation, the results obtained thus far suggest it may be a promising research direction.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/7/1664flow distributionprocess and power industry equipmentfinite element analysis |
| spellingShingle | Tomáš Létal Vojtěch Turek Dominika Babička Fialová Zdeněk Jegla Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer Model Energies flow distribution process and power industry equipment finite element analysis |
| title | Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer Model |
| title_full | Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer Model |
| title_fullStr | Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer Model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer Model |
| title_short | Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer Model |
| title_sort | nonlinear finite element analysis based flow distribution and heat transfer model |
| topic | flow distribution process and power industry equipment finite element analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/7/1664 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tomasletal nonlinearfiniteelementanalysisbasedflowdistributionandheattransfermodel AT vojtechturek nonlinearfiniteelementanalysisbasedflowdistributionandheattransfermodel AT dominikababickafialova nonlinearfiniteelementanalysisbasedflowdistributionandheattransfermodel AT zdenekjegla nonlinearfiniteelementanalysisbasedflowdistributionandheattransfermodel |