Numerical analysis of the tubular heat exchanger designed for co-generating units on the basis of microturbines

The application of numerical simulations using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis when mapping processes in the course of which the heat transmission occurs has become an essential part of the heat transfer systems. The present contribution deals with the possibility to use the waste heat of the flue gas produced by small microturbines. The waste heat is mapped by means of both the numerical simulations applying the FLUENT software and the practical experiment. Utilizing a part of the waste heat for water heating and decreasing the outlet temperature of the flue gas into atmosphere when applying in co-generating units represents one of the partial benefits. The present paper brings information concerning the newly designed type of heat exchanger including the results of its numerical analysis.The analysed heat exchanger designed in the system with microturbine (MT) C30 reached generally the efficiency of 75%. Both the results of simulations and the carried out practical experiment confirmed the temperature of the flue gas to be sufficient behind the exchanger to prevent the condensation of water from the flue gas. On the contrary, except for heating water the exchanger under consideration offers – thanks to its design – also other possibilities to use of the flue gas. The practical experiment confirmed the results of the CFD prediction with rather small differences as the temperature of water obtained from the exchanger was 359 K and the designed shape of the exchanger did not result in substantial pressure losses in flue gas approximately 50 Pa. The mean logarithmic temperature difference of the mapped and verified exchanger was ∼203 K.