Wire Structure Heat Exchangers—New Designs for Efficient Heat Transfer

Enhancing the heat transfer mechanism by increasing the heat exchanger surface area is a standard way to overcome low heat transfer on the gas side of heat exchangers. Different geometrical shapes, for example, plain, wavy, or interrupted fin geometries for plate-fin or tube-fin heat exchangers, are...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hannes Fugmann, Eric Laurenz, Lena Schnabel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2017-09-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/9/1341
Description
Summary:Enhancing the heat transfer mechanism by increasing the heat exchanger surface area is a standard way to overcome low heat transfer on the gas side of heat exchangers. Different geometrical shapes, for example, plain, wavy, or interrupted fin geometries for plate-fin or tube-fin heat exchangers, are used for this task. Wire structures with dimensions in the submillimeter range are already used in regenerators for their heat capacity, but are rarely used in recuperators as heat transfer enhancers. New textile developments enable the fabrication of adapted structures with irregular grid sizes, and purpose-built for heat exchanger application. These wire structures allow for enlarging the heat transfer surface area, decreasing material utilization, and enabling flexibility of different geometrical dimensions. Possibilities for manufacturing and design selection are studied in the project, EffiMet, and thereafter at Fraunhofer ISE for the implementation of highly efficient heat exchanger geometries based on wire structures.
ISSN:1996-1073