Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Exergy based optimization and experimental evaluation of plate fin heat

exchanger
Rajvir Singh Doohan a,, Pradeep Kumar Kush a, Govind Maheshwari b
a
b

Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore 452013, Madhya Pradesh, India
Institute of Engineering and Technology, DAVV, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

h i g h l i g h t s

Significance of pressure drop over heat transfer performance for cryogenic heat exchanger.

Study deals with thermo-structural aspect of core with several geometrical variations.

Heat exchanger chosen for study has largest exergy destruction in coldbox.

We discussed constrained by manufacturing capabilities.

Paper deals with unique aspects of cryogenic heat exchanger.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 12 October 2015
Accepted 21 March 2016
Available online 28 March 2016
Keywords:
Exergy analysis
Helium liquefier
Plate fin heat exchanger
Refrigerator

a b s t r a c t
High performance of heat exchangers is important for helium refrigeration and liquefaction systems as
they constitute major part of cold-box. This study represents optimization of plate fin heat exchanger
(PFHX) design parameters for cryogenic application using exergy analysis. Design of PFHX particularly
for helium liquefaction should satisfy contrasting requirement such as high thermal performance with
minimum pressure drop. Since factual requirement for PFHX core geometrical parameters are of contradictory nature and no single solution can fully satisfy all objectives simultaneously. A parametric study
performed to evaluate the effect of core geometrical parameters on overall thermal performance. Results
so obtained theoretically are validated experimentally and also with past published work. This study is
particularly useful for PFHX designers in evaluating set of optimal salient geometrical design parameters.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Heat exchangers performance plays vital role in high performance helium liquefier and refrigerator systems. Collins cycle is
generally used for helium gas liquefaction. It uses PFHX because
of their relatively high effectiveness. Authors have independently
developed and successfully liquefied helium gas using highdensity fin tubes in shell type heat exchangers [1]. These heat
exchangers have limited heat transfer area per unit volume and
provide 700900 m2 of heat transfer area per cubic meter of heat
exchanger volume. For helium liquefaction system, desired heat
exchanger effectiveness has to be high. To enhance thermal performance of cryogenic systems, PFHXs are more appropriate. Limited
information is available in the open literature regarding design of
PFHX for cryogenic applications, specially for helium liquefaction.
To the best of authors knowledge, finer aspects of heat transfer
for cryogenic heat exchangers are even more difficult to find in
Corresponding author.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.03.101
1359-4311/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

open literature due to their proprietary nature. Most studies are

devoted to heat transfer only, rather than real issues pertaining
to heat exchanger core fabrication and their possible geometrical
variations. Heat exchanger core may fail in pressure integrity test
due to poor brazing and unsatisfactory structural strength of outer
cover plates. A complete analysis should be performed considering
combine thermo-structural effects along with others factors.
Beside this, there is hardly any data available in literature about
pressure drop dependent heat transfer performance for PFHX [2].
Performance of heat exchanger is critical for helium refrigeration and liquefaction systems because they constitute major part
of cryogenic system vacuum encloser called cold-box. PFHX with
multi-pass flow arrangement is generally preferred for helium liquefaction system. Multi-pass configuration will enhance overall
effectiveness over the individual pass effectiveness, with higher
pressure drop. The serrated fins chosen for heat exchanger core
provide large surface area and highest heat transfer performance.
Developed heat exchanger core with offset serrated fins offers typical compactness factor of around 1400 m2/m3. High compactness

R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

allows, low temperature difference at the end of heat exchanger,

necessary for high effectiveness and mitigates cryogenic passive
losses. However, with plate-fin heat exchanger surfaces, there are
manufacturing difficulties associated that has to be addressed adequately and precisely. With higher fin density it becomes exceptionally difficult to manufacture fins with good integrity and
then vacuum braze connexions between plate and separation
plates. Additionally, fins manufacturing irregularities not only
influences the thermo-structural performance but may also effect
the pressure drop characteristic.
Cryogenic heat exchangers are typically very sensitive to axial
conduction and property variations due to large temperature variation. Nellis provided a comprehensive and rigorous treatment to
axial conduction effect on heat exchanger performance [3]. His
proposed numerical model, which comprehensively considers
combined effect of several loss mechanisms as they interact
amongst one another. Hansen et al. [4] have published a full
description about the effects of axial conduction and variable properties for a JT, PFHX. They concluded that high thermal conducting
metals should be avoided in design of compact JT heat exchangers.
Their proposed numerical model also predicted that heat exchanger effectiveness is increased when heat loads are below design
value. A recent more comprehensive review on plate fin heat
exchanger for cryogenic application is provided by Pacio and Dorao
[2]. Due care has been taken to incorporate as many as possible
effects of above mentioned models into the present study.
After thermo-structural design of heat exchanger core is complete, next question is how to find the thermal imperfections. Analysis based on first and second laws of thermodynamics aiming at
thermodynamic imperfections inside an exchanger subsystem are
performed. In this study, exergy based optimization have been
applied for the performance assessment. Amongst optimization
studies available for PFHX, Maekawa et al. [5] reported that exergy
analysis for each heat exchanger of helium refrigerator of Large
Helical Device to understand the cause of deterioration in performance. Exergy analyses of constituent modules provide direct indication of primary source of loss making components. They
concluded that inefficiency at first pre-cooling circuit affects overall refrigeration performance, resulting loss in liquid helium production. Likewise, for our present study first heat exchanger of
cold-box with largest temperature gradient, highest duty and with
largest exergy destruction amongst the cold-box PFHXs is chosen.
Ganni and Apparao [6] published detail description about application of exergy method to Accelerator System String Test, helium
refrigerator system to get a clear insight into the component and
system losses behavior. Minta and Smith [7] carried out study of
entropy generation in a helium liquefaction cycles model with continuous pre-cooling. Soyars [8] carried out an extensive exegetic
study of Tevatron liquid helium satellite refrigerator upgrade. From
the above mentioned studies and numerous similar study available
elsewhere, it is concluded that exergy analysis is powerful way of
assessing and comparing possible refrigeration/liquefaction losses
and cycle configurations.
The prime task of a heat exchanger regardless of its construction, is to transfer heat between fluids. Its design formulation
should includes complete design specifications comprising concept
development, size, manufacturing process and its final utilization
to the intended system. These design methodologies are complex
and often requires many qualitative judgments, in addition to
quantitative calculations [9]. Design specifications needs to be
finalized based on discussions with manufacturing industry, standards and on design engineers own experiences. Heat exchanger
design specifications must include all necessary information to
design and optimize an exchanger for the intended application.
Due care have to been taken even during mounting of cryogenic

81

heat exchangers for helium service, so that there is no gravity

effect which could result in uneven flow distribution [10].
The results reported [2] or elsewhere, the combined effect of
allowable pressure drop along with heat transfer performance
and geometrical variations particularity for cryogenic helium
applications is not available in open literature. In the present work,
authors have shown direct relationship of thermal performance
with pressure drop, fin height and number of fins layers and it
can be particularly useful to provide essential insight to designer
of cryogenic heat exchanger. Results of this study were validated
experimentally through data generated from test setup. The structure of present study is organized as follows: experimental setup,
design consideration, mathematical formulation, exergetic optimization, results/discussions and conclusions.
2. Experimental setup
For new heat exchanger development, prototype are generally
built and tested in laboratory for their heat transfer and pressure
drop performance. An experimental test setup was built in order
to measure the performance of constructed plate fine heat exchanger. A schematic of setup is shown in Fig. 1. Heat exchanger is
placed in a vacuum insulated cold-box and temperature of warm
end of entry stream is maintained near to environmental temperature whereas entry of cold end stream is maintain near boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen. Pressure and flow regulation of helium
gas is done using control valves. Flow measurement of helium gas is
carried out at environmental temperature. Temperature measurement at inlet and outlet of gas streams is done using calibrated Platinum sensors. Helium liquefaction system are very sensitive to low
pressure stream pressure-drop hence due care has been taken.
Highly sensitive, differential pressure gauges are deployed to measure their pressure drops in low and high pressure streams. Compressor system generates necessary flow rate and pressure
difference through heat exchanger whereas required refrigeration
is obtained from liquid nitrogen cooling. For helium cooling, it is
passed through copper tube heat exchanger surrounded by liquid
nitrogen pool. Except compressor system and flow measurement
device all other components are placed inside cold box.
3. Design consideration
In PFHX design for cryogenic applications, mechanical and thermal design impacts each other in significant ways. This relationship
area is equally less explored by the researchers. In this study we
have prominently pointed out this fact that thermal and mechanical
design is strongly interrelated, particularly for cryogenic applications. For helium liquefaction system, heat exchanger should have
high heat transfer performance, coupled with very low-pressure
drop and high compactness. Maximum allowed pressure drop and
heat transfer performance are deciding factor for choice of fins to
be used for exchanger core construction. Thermal stresses and
effectiveness requirement will dictate the choice for exchanger flow
arrangement (cross-flow, counter-flow, or multi-pass). Heat
exchanger design optimization is very complex, multidisciplinary
and inter-dependent factors needs to be accorded due weightage.
This can be accomplished using clear understanding of requirements and design methodology. Heat exchanger design calculations can be broadly classified into two categories.
3.1. Thermal and hydraulic design
Heat exchanger thermal and hydraulic design include exchanger rating, pressure drop evaluation and its sizing. Two important
relationships encompass the entire thermal design.

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R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

FLOW
METER

COMPRESSOR

COLD BOX

CALIBERATED
PRESSURE &
TEMPERATURE
SENSORS

dP
HEAT
EXCHANGER

VALVE

LIQUID
NITROGEN
COOLING

Fig. 1. Simplified flow schematic of test setup for testing heat exchanger.

to be done. Although components thickness selection corresponds

to mechanical design, this also affects thermal design of heat
exchanger.

3.2. Mechanical design

(i) Enthalpy rate equations

_  Dh
Q m
(ii) Heat transfer rate

Q U  A  DT m

_ is the mass flow rate (kg/s) and h is the enthalpy (J/kg), U is

where m
the overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K), A is the heat transfer
area (m2) and Tm is the mean temperature difference between
streams (K).
For design engineer, while designing a new heat exchanger it is
very important to select its construction type, flow arrangement
and best possible construction material. For helium cryogenic
application physical size of heat exchanger and low stream pressure drops to meet specified heat transfer within all specified constraints should be minimum. For precise thermal and hydraulic
design, fluid thermo-physical properties such as specific heat cp,
density q, thermal conductivity k and dynamic viscosity l, plays
decisive role. Owing to the complexity of calculations and iteration
involved, these procedures are often executed using specially written code by the designer. For our present study, engineering equation solver is used due to its simplicity and precision of solving
relationship equations at various state points [11]. Once thermal
design of heat exchanger finalized, its mechanical designing has

Mechanical design is essential to ensure structural integrity of

heat exchanger under normal operating conditions and has to be
checked for severe accidental condition. Designed operating pressures, temperatures, and chemical reactiveness of fluids with
materials play decisive role while designing heat exchanger core.
Selection of material and method of fabrication of core depends
upon the intended application of an exchanger. PFHX core requires
proper bonding techniques and adequate provisions should be
made for thermal expansion of core components during its brazing.
Core brazing is highly field experience job and most vital manufacturing step of heat exchanger fabrication. PFHX core are vacuum
brazed in a vacuum furnace, their header and nozzles are TIG
welded as per the users requirement.
Header has to be properly designed to take care of uniform flow
distribution through exchanger flow passages. Finally, designed
heat exchanger must comply with applicable national or international codes and standards. Heat exchanger with headers and
welded with transition joints is shown in Fig. 2. Transition joint

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R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

are welded at the end of header nozzles to connect them with

other heat exchangers or with thin section of stainless steel widely
used in cryogenic components manufacturing. Mounting arrangement for PFHX inside cold-box is done such that contact resistance
is least possible.
Few optimized optional solutions may be available while working around thermal and mechanical designs. Its the designer prerogative to address mechanical and thermal design while
considering manufacturing and cost issues to arrive at an optimum
solution.

Performance of heat exchanger is associated with the energy

transferred by cold stream to the hot stream. Hot and cold fluid
enters in heat exchanger at specified inlet temperatures and pressure. Heat transfer conductance U can be calculated for HP and LP
streams using standard EES function CHX_h_plate_fin() based on
following inputs,

_ HP ; AFR ; L; Helium;
U HP CHX h plate finFinType; dSP; HLP ; m
T HP

in ;

T HP

out ;

PHP 

_ LP ; AFR ; L; Helium;
U LP CHX h plate finFinType; dSP; HHP ; m
T LP

4. Mathematical formulation

in ;

T LP

out ;

PLP 

7
2

In this section, equations for calculating heat transfer rate, pressure drop are presented. Heat exchanger considered for the present
study has plate fin type construction with aluminum 3003 seriated
fin. Basic schematic of heat exchanger with offset fin geometry is
shown in Fig. 3. Height of fins is chosen in such that to match heat
transfer performance for the streams. Outer cover plates of heat
exchanger core are made extra thick to withstand design pressure.
It should be noted that for present study, heat exchanger is
assumed to be working at steady state condition and fluid for high
pressure (HP) and low pressure (LP) streams is helium. Built-in
engineering equation solver functions are used for calculation in
combination with their relationships with other variables. Most
calculations are performed for LP streams because helium has a
critical point at 5.1953 K, 2.2746 bar absolute. Low critical pressure
and lowest liquefaction temperature of helium put strict requirement of pressure drop on heat exchanger low/return pressure
stream for helium liquefaction applications.

U heat transfer conductance (W/m K), FinType corresponding to the heat exchanger fin used for its construction, dSP thickness of separation plate (m), H fin height (m), m mass flow rate
(kg/s), AFR frontal area of heat exchanger (m2), THP temperature of
HP stream (K), TLP temperature of LP stream (K) and P stream
absolute pressure (kPa), Subscripts HP and LP refers to high and
low pressure streams.
The conductance rate of heat transfer into cold end and out of
hot end for heat exchanger separation plates can be calculated as

U k km  AS  T m

where k is material conductivity (W/m K), AS surface area for heat

transfer per unit length (m2/m), Tm temperature of fin metal (K).
By considering above thermal resistance, the overall heat transfer conductance U following law cooling can be written as:

1
1

UA
U HP  AS

HP

1
U LP  AS

LP

1
U k  AS

The capacity rate of two streams can be expressed as:

4.1. Heat transfer calculations

_ HP  cpHelium; T HP ; HP
c_ HP m

10

Extensive description about the calculations of primary and secondary heat transfer area for various fin geometry are available in
literature [12]. Heat transfer area for HP as well as LP streams can
be found as below:

_ LP  cpHelium; T LP ; LP
c_ LP m

11

AHP bHP  HHP  N HP  W  L

ALP bLP  HLP  NLP  W  L

where bHP and bLP are the surface area densities of HP and LP
streams based on unit volume between plates and measured in
(m2/m3), H fin height or plate spacing (m), W width of heat
exchanger core (m), L length of core in flow direction (m) and
N number of channels per streams.
Total heat transfer area is the sum of low and high pressure
stream combined.

ATotal AHP ALP

where capacitance rate c a product of mass flow and specific heat

is expressed in (W/K). To calculate maximum possible heat transfer
rate Q_ max , fluid with minimum capacity rate is figured out and can
be written as:

Q_ max minc_ HP ; c_ LP  T HP

in

 T LP

in 

12

Effectiveness (e) of heat exchanger may be define as:

Actual Heat Transfer

Q ACT

Max: Possible Heat Transfer Q max

13

For cryogenic applications, axial conduction across heat exchanger end surfaces may result in severe performance deterioration. A
compact heat exchanger should careful incorporate its consideration for effectiveness calculation. A coefficient of axial conduction
parameter (k) is given as:

kAluminum 3003; T m   AF
L  cmin

14

where k is fin material conductivity (W/m K), AF is cross sectional

area of fin surface (m2) and L is the length in-between ends surfaces
of streams. The effectiveness of heat exchanger can also be written
as [4]:

e1

1


1ku
1 NTU 1kNTU

15

where solution constant (u) is given as:

0
1
r
k  NTU
NTU
B
C
tanh @qA
u
1 k  NTU
kNTU
Fig. 2. Snapshot of plate-fin heat exchanger with transition joints.

1kNTU

16

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R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

Fig. 3. Basic schematic of PFHX with seriated fins geometry.

In the above equation, NTU is Number of Transfer Units, which is

given as:

NTU

UA
cmin

17

where U is overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K), A is total heat

transfer area, (m2), and cmin is minimum capacitance rate amongst
of two streams (W/K).
Further model optimization is done through, suitably modifying
geometrical parameters of fins in engineering equation solver
built-in fin geometry file (geometry_CHX.lkt) of heat transfer
library, according to the fins specification used for construction
of heat exchanger.
4.2. Pressure drop calculations
The frictional drop for hot and colds streams can be found from
EES library function CHX_DELTAp_plate_fin().

_ HP ; AFR ;
DPHP CHX delta plate finFinType; dSP; HLP ; m
L; Helium; T HP in ; T HP out ; PHP 

18

_ LP ; AFR ;
DPLP CHX delta plate finFinType; dSP; HLP ; m
L; Helium; T LP in ; T LP out ; PLP 

19

where variable used have same nomenclature as in case of heat

transfer conductance. The frictional pressure drop for hot and cold
stream found using these EES library functions.
Above mathematical formulations are used for defining the
relationship between equations. Whereas, following paragraphs
specifically deals with design optimization of important geometrical fin parameters.
5. Design optimization
Authors have performed sensitivity analysis to see the variation
of input parameter on heat exchanger performance. In real problems, no single solution can fully satisfy all requirements simultaneously. Trade-off between two or more objective is required to
arrive at an optimal decision. To arrive at reasonable solution, a
set of likely solution to the problem are studied. Considering the
operating conditions, effect of important geometry fin variable
are studied. Operating parameters that were kept constant for
the present study are shown in Table 1.

Performance of cryogenic heat exchanger is mostly influenced

by large change in the specific heat of HP and LP streams. Fig. 4
shows variation of specific heat along heat exchanger core length
at its working pressure and temperature. High pressure stream
experiences large change in specific heat whereas for LP stream
variation is not significant in the specified range of temperature.
Heat exchange effectiveness is influenced by variable specific heat
due to temperature variation and dissimilar flow rate through
streams during liquefaction. These effects prevent heat exchanger
from achieving high efficiency and are included in the model.

5.1. Effect of fin height

Heat is transferred from cold stream to hot stream by primary
and secondary heat transfer surfaces. Primary heat transfer surface
is formed by bare parting surface plus fin base directly brazed to
separation sheet. However in case of secondary heat transfer, fin
surface its base height and efficiency plays an important role.
Fig. 5 shows cross section view of fins with primary and secondary
surfaces along with separation plates that hold fins together.
To evaluate effect of fin height on heat transfer performance of
heat exchanger, sensitivity analysis has been performed. Fig. 6 presents the effect of change in fin height on heat exchanger important performance parameters.
One of the notable features in cryogenic heat exchanger for liquefaction process is the low allowable pressure drop for LP stream
(dLP) and resulting heat transfer performance. For this reason
effect of fin height and frequency were evaluated for LP stream

Table 1
Core geometry specifications and operating conditions for plate-fin heat exchanger
for case study.
Heat exchanger core

HP

LP

Fin and core material

Core width (m)
Core length (m)
Separation plate thickness (m)
Outer cover plate thickness (m)
No. of layers
Fin height (m)

AA3003
0.2
0.95
0.0008
0.005
19
0.003

20
0.0065

Operating parameters
Fluid
Inlet temperatures (K)
Pressure (kPa)

Helium
315
1700

80
110

85

5225

5225

5220

5220

5215

5215

5210

5210

5205

5205

5200

5200

5195

5195

5190

0
0.1
Hot End

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

L [m]

Cp,HP [J/kg-K]

Cp,LP [J/kg-K]

R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

5190
1
Cold End

Fig. 4. Variation of specific heat of streams along heat exchanger core.

only. Fin height LP stream is varied from 2 mm to 8 mm to evaluate

its effect on heat transfer performance, pressure drop and effectiveness. An increase in the fin height results in decrease in heat
transfer performance up to fin height of 4 mm and afterwards its
shows an upward trend. For helium liquefaction application, high
heat transfer performance along with characteristic low-pressure
drop is required. Even though with increase in the fin height,
NTU has increased considerably due to increase in secondary heat
transfer area but that does not translate into high transfer performance. An overall improvement in heat transfer performance is
also associated with fin performance, core geometrical size, temperature and pressure drop. Serrated fins used for construction of
heat exchanger provide large surface area with low pressure drop
and highest heat transfer performance. Fin height of 6 mm is
selected due to high heat transfer performance coupled with
low-pressure drop and structural integration considerations.
High-pressure stream fin height is taken as constant, due to no
pressure drop constrain by cryogenic process.
5.2. Effect of fin frequency
Effect of fin frequency on heat transfer performance is also
investigated and presented in Fig. 7. With increase in fin density
heat transfer performance of heat exchanger increases due to

increase in secondary heat transfer area. Fin density beyond 1000

fins per meter is not desirable due to higher pressure drops. It also
becomes extremely difficult to build such high density fins due to
complex punch and die design. Sheet metal deep drawing forming
is one of the most challenging processes in manufacturing and
tearing, puckering, excessive thinning and wrinkling related problem generally are faced during fins formation. Frequency of fins per
meter is normally constrained by manufacturing capability. Superior heat transfer performance can be expected with higher fin
density whereas it becomes extremely difficult to maintain the
parallelism required for full brazing of heat exchanger core. Partially brazed heat exchanger core severely affect its structural
integrity and may rendered useless.

5.3. Effect of numbers of layers

Effect of number of fin layers and heat exchanger core length is
also studied on heat transfer performance. It has been found out
with more number of fin layers heat transfer performance
improves. Pressure drop plays decisive role while selecting more
number of layers for cryogenic heat exchanger of helium liquefier.
Effect of number of fin layers on heat transfer performance is also
investigated and presented in Fig. 8. With the increase in numbers

Primary heat transfer surface

Secondary heat transfer surface

Separation plate

H
Separation plate

Fin
Fig. 5. Cross sectional view of fins with heat transfer surfaces.

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R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

45

59100
Q
dLP
NTU
e

58950

1200

96.75
40

58850
800

58800
58750

dLP (mbar)

1000

58900

e (-)

59000

NTU (-)

59050

Q (W)

97.00

1400

96.50

600

35

58700
400

58650
58600

96.25

200

58550
0

58500
1

30

96.00

50

96

H (mm)
Fig. 6. Effect of LP fin height on heat exchanger performance.

50

56000
55800

45
40

Q
dLP
NTU
e

54800
54600

20

35

NTU (-)

55000

dLP (mbar)

30

55200

Q (W)

95

40

55400

94

e (-)

55600

30

25

93

10
54400

20

54200
200

400

600

800

1000

0
1200

15

92

N (fins per m)
Fig. 7. Effect of number of fin per meter to heat transfer performance.

of layers to heat exchanger core heat transfer performance

increases.
For less number of layers length required will be large for same
heat transfer performance. Too small length and too many fin layers are not desirable form axial conduction standpoint. Increasing
the number of fin layers beyond 18, appreciable change in heat
transfer performance becomes less profound.
5.4. Experimental validation of model
To test the efficacy of mathematical model, comparison of calculated results is done with experimental data generated from
our test setup. Calibrated platinum resistance thermometers are
used in order to measure temperature of heat exchanger streams
in experimental setup. During the experiment inlet temperature
of HP stream was regulated near to environmental temperature
whereas LP stream is cooled with the help of liquid nitrogen to
80 K. Helium mass flow through the heat exchanger is varied to
measure the experimental effectiveness using outlet temperatures.
Outlet temperatures were also calculated using developed mathe-

matical model and output were compared with the experimental

results. During experimental testing, approximately half an hour
interval is provide to stabilize temperature profile in-between
the successive measurements. Fig. 9 shows comparison of calculated and experimental effectiveness determined from outlet temperature of LP and HP streams. Results confirm that experimental
results remain well within the error band of 2% of measured experimental data. Consequently, taking into account the narrow range
of operating parameters tested experimentally, agreement found
between calculated and experimental effectiveness for heat
exchanger was considered satisfactory. These experimental results
provided authenticity to our simulation model and numerical data
can used to carry out further analyses.

6. Exergetic optimization
Further design optimization can be achieved with exergetic utilization study of heat exchanger. Exergy is defined as maximum
available potential of work of a system in relation to the environ-

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R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

61000

60000

QHX1 [W]

59000

58000
9 Layers
12 Layers

57000

15 Layers
18 Layers
21 Layers

56000

24 Layers

55000
0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

L [m]
Fig. 8. Effect of number of fin layers and core length to heat transfer performance.

0.93

0.98

0.92

0.97

0.91

0.96

0.90

0.95

0.89

0.94

0.88

0.93

0.87

0.92

0.86

0.91

0.85
0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

I,

II, ExergyEfficiency

Fig. 9. Comparison of calculated results with experimental results.

0.90
0.1

mHP,HX1 [kg/s]
Fig. 10. Heat exchanger exergetic and energetic efficiencies for refrigerator mode.

ment. Exergy analysis has potential for precisely pinpointing the

locations of energy degradation in a process as well as it provides
an alternative way of assessing and comparing the processes.

Exergy analysis results in true efficiencies which provide an actual

measure of how nearly actual performance approaches the ideal
[13].

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R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

General equation for the specific flow exergy neglecting kinetic

and potential energy can be expressed as:

In order to increase the overall efficiency of system, engineering

attempts mainly focused on components with the highest exergy
destruction. Nevertheless, cryogenic systems commonly consist
of multiple components, such as heat exchangers, compressors,
expanders, and valves. However for heat exchanger design parameter for optimization are more flexible. Exergy destruction is an
important parameter in exergy analysis, as exergy is not conserved
and work potential loses due to irreversibilities present in the system. Exergy destruction is studied to get insight of losses behavior
and for system performance improvement. Exergetic efficiency of
heat exchanger is ratio between gains in exergy of LP streams,
which are heated to the loss in exergy of HP stream that is cooled.
Reference temperature in exergy analysis is usually taken as actual
average local temperature of geographic location.
Exergy analysis can be applied to heat exchanger by first quantifying the exergy loss due to finite temperature difference and
pressure drops occurring at the ends. Any conceivable reduction
in exergy loss will improve the performance of heat exchanger.
Exergy analysis is effective tool to identify the remaining source
of irreversibilities due to design choices [14]. Although the rational
efficiency of heat exchanger is high and the possibilities for exergy
saving are very limited, even then it can translate into an energy
saving of a few kilowatts.

DEx h  h0  T 0 s  s0

20

where h and s are the specific enthalpy and entropy of the fluid at
the specified state, and h0 and s0 are the corresponding properties
at the environmental dead state.
For any control volume, exergetic efficiency is defined as the
useful exergy coming out from the system, divided by the overall

Table 2
Numerical data of designed heat exchanger.
Property

HP

Temperature (K)
Pressure (kPa)
Mass flow (kg/s)
Specific enthalpy, h (kJ/kg K)
Specific entropy, s (kJ/kg K)
Specific heat, Cp (kJ/kg K)
Total heat, Q = m h (kW)
Total heat, Q = m Cp T (kW)
Exergy (kW)

LP

In

Out

In

Out

315
1700
0.05
1647
22.41
5.192
82.33
81.77
89.61

92
1700
0.05
487.6
16.01
5.22
24.38
24.01
129.3

80
110
0.05
421
20.97
5.196
21.05
20.78
50.18

303
110
0.05
1579
27.89
5.193
78.93
78.65
2.613

15.00

ExergyHX1,Des, [kW]

12.50

10.00

7.50

5.00

2.50

0.00

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

mHP,HX1 [kg/s]
Fig. 11. Heat exchanger exergetic destruction for refrigeration mode.

0.990

0.91

0.90

0.980

0.88

0.87
0.975
0.86

0.85
0.043

0.0432

0.0434

0.0436

0.0438

0.044

0.0442

0.0444

0.0446

0.0448

mLP,HX1 [kg/s]
Fig. 12. Heat exchanger exergetic and energetic efficiencies for liquefaction mode.

0.970
0.045

ExergyEfficiency

0.985
0.89

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R.S. Doohan et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 8090

6.00
5.75

ExergyHX1,Des [kW]

5.50
5.25
5.00
4.75
4.50
4.25
4.00
0.043

0.04325

0.0435

0.04375

0.044

0.04425

0.0445

0.04475

0.045

mLP,HX1 [kg/s]
Fig. 13. Heat exchanger exergetic destruction for liquefaction mode.

exergy supplied to the system. For cryogenic heat exchanger, high

pressure hot stream gain exergy whereas, the low pressure cold
stream losses its exergy. One can write exergetic efficiency for a
PFHX as

P
ExHX

gain DExHP

eff:

21

loss DExLP

For heat exchanger exergetic destruction rate in general form

can also written be as:

ExHX

des

_ LP sLP
T 0 m

out

 sLP

in

_ HP sHP
m

in

 sHP

out

22

Based on the designed data and inlet and outlet conditions after getting solution from EES code is expressed in Table 2.
7. Results and discussions
Simulations were performed for the designed heat exchanger
with input parameters mentioned in Table 1. Results of simulation
are compared for refrigeration and liquefaction modes of operations. In case of refrigeration mode, mass flow rate of both HP
and LP streams are same, whereas in case of liquefaction mode
LP stream have less mass flow rate. Once liquefaction starts, mass
converted to liquid is not returning to LP stream. It can be seen
from Fig. 10 that slopes of first law efficiency and the second law
exergetic efficiency with increase in the mass flow rate. Simulation
result shows that there is more rapid decrease in exergetic efficiency. For refrigeration mode, increase of mass flow from 0.03
to 0.1 (kg/s) results in around 2.1% decrease in effectiveness of heat
exchanger whereas around 6.8% decrease in exergetic efficiency.
Heat exchanger under analysis is designed to operate for mixed
mode. Fig. 11 shows that for refrigeration mode of operation,
increase of mass flow rate beyond 0.031 (kg/s) results in higher
exergy destruction.
The change in exergetic efficiency of heat exchanger is more
intense in liquefier mode of operation, operating with unbalanced
mass flow rate. Simulation results in Fig. 12 shows that for a constant mass flow in HP stream of 0.045 (kg/s) and decrease in mass
flow rate of LP from 0.045 to 0.043 (kg/s) due to liquefaction,
results in around 1.7% increase in effectiveness of heat exchanger
whereas around 4.2% decrease in exergetic efficiency. Fig. 13
shows, exergy destruction taking place inside heat exchanger for
liquefaction mode of operation. Exergetic efficiency of heat
exchanger with unbalanced flow of 0.002 (kg/s) in liquefaction
mode clearly expresses large exergy destruction whereas effective-

ness of heat exchanger is improved somewhat. Exergy analysis

result, clearly express heat exchanger loss due to unbalance flow
resulting from helium liquefaction. This help to establish that, a
reduction of these losses will lead to higher liquefaction yield
and better liquefaction efficiency. This demonstrate that heat
exchanger working in unbalanced mode of operation, exergetic
efficiency provide strong objective basis for comparison.
Energy and Exergetic efficiencies are more effective way to
assess performance of heat exchangers for liquefier.
8. Conclusions
A comparative study of heat exchanger thermal performance
with different geometrical parameters is carried out taking helium
as working fluid in engineering equation solver. It is revealed that
although high performance can be obtained with lower fin height
or with high fin density but not acceptable from helium liquefaction process requirement. This study incorporates and also pointed
out that thermal and structural design are strongly interrelated, for
helium cryogenic applications. The exergy analysis gives insight
about thermodynamic performance deterioration. Exergy analysis
method may be applied to PFHX design as a powerful tool to optimize designer choices parameters and straightforward method for
assessing which improvements are worthwhile. The results of this
study provide useful data for general estimation to select optimum
geometrical parameter for cryogenic heat exchanger. Experience
plays important role to arrive at decisive solution considering all
the discussed inputs. As heat exchanger design is a multifaceted
process, its development requires more feasible solutions rather
then the best optimal one. Due to availability of built-in library
functions, developed model can be adopted to different working
fluids and fin geometry with ease. Finally, pressure drop dependent
heat transfer performance is important parameter for helium liquefaction system and its cannot be ignored to get meaningful
insight into the overall optimization.
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