Role of channel shape on performance of plate-fin heat exchangers: Experimental assessment

•Effect of channel shape on performance of plate-fin heat exchangers was studied.•Three PEC were used for the appraisal of different channels performance.•The vortex generator has the best performance from all the PEC point of view.•The vortex generator channel reduces the maximum amount of surface area.

A comparative evaluation of seven common configurations of channels used in plate-fin heat exchangers is presented. All the channels, including plain, perforated, offset strip, louvered, wavy, vortex-generator, and pin, are fabricated and tested experimentally. The working fluid is water, and Reynolds number range is from 480 to 3770. To evaluate the performance of these channels and also select an optimum plate-fin channel, three mostly used energy-based performance evaluation criteria are employed. The results are presented as plots of dimensional and non-dimensional parameters. In comparison with all of the studied channels, the vortex-generator channel shows a significant enhancement in the heat transfer coefficient and a proper reduction in the heat exchanger surface area. Therefore, it can be applied as a high quality interrupted surface in the plate-fin heat exchangers. Moreover, the wavy channel displays an optimal performance at low Reynolds numbers.

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