Experimental study on corrugated cross-flow air-cooled plate heat exchangers

Experimental study on cross-flow air-cooled plate heat exchangers (PHEs) was performed. The two prototype PHEs were manufactured in a stack of single-wave plates and double-wave plates in parallel. Cooling air flows through the PHEs in a crosswise direction against internal cooling water. The heat exchanger aims to substitute open-loop cooling towers with closed-loop water circulation, which guarantees cleanliness and compactness. In this study, the prototype PHEs were tested in a laboratory scale experiments. From the tests, double-wave PHE shows approximately 50% enhanced heat transfer performance compared to single-wave PHE. However, double-wave PHE costs 30% additional pressure drop. For commercialization, a wide channel design for air flow would be essential for reliable performance.