CFD ANALYSIS OF HEAT PIPE HEAT

EXCHANGER BY USING FLUENT

Under the guidance
SOLVER
of
DR.G.THIRUPATI REDDY
By
Mr. IBRAHIM BIN AMER
(12571A0312)
Mr. MATHEEN KHAN
(12571A0321)
Mr. KHAJA ZIYAUDDIN
(12571A0335)
Mr. S M AMER
(12571A0344)
Mr. SHABAZ MOHD KHAN (13575A0307)

SREE VISVESVARAYA INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES

CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger
3. Selection of material for HPHE
4. Applications of HPHE
5. CFD
6. FVM
7. Solvers Of CFD
8. Analysis of HPHE
9. Results
10. Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

In this project, the heat pipe heat exchanger (HPHE) is considered and
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to analyse heat exchangers fluid
flow parameters performance like velocity, pressure and temperature.

The CFD principles which are made use in this article are effective and
appropriate methods that using finite volumes to solve the processes The
necessary numerical computations are accomplished by Fluent (the CFD
solver program) and the results are given in contour plots.

This analysis is done for an existing HPHE with the specified conditions of
inlet flow to evaporator with and without baffle and finally the results and
conclusion are presented.

2. Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger

Heat Exchanger :

A heat exchanger is a device that is used to transfer thermal energy

(enthalpy) between two or more fluids, between a solid surface and
a fluid, or between solid particulates and a fluid, at different
temperatures and in thermal contact.

Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger

Heat Pipe Heat Exchangers. This type of exchanger is similar to a

tube-fin exchanger with individually finned tubes or flat (continuous)
fins and tubes.

3. Selection of material for

HPHE

GENERAL CRITERIA FOR MATERIAL SELECTION

A general procedure that could be used for identifying the most

appropriate material for a specific heat exchanger application
would consist of the following steps.

Define the heat exchanger requirements.

Establish a strategy for evaluating candidate materials.

Identify candidate materials.

Evaluate materials in depth.

Select the optimum material.

Special consideration which affect material selection include:

1.Physical Properties

2. Mechanical Properties

3. Corrosion Resistance

4.Ease of Manufacturing

Copper in Heat Exchanger

Copper condenser tubes were first used in 1769 forsteam engines. Initially, the tubes
were made of unalloyed copper. By 1870,Muntz metal, a 60% Cu-40% Znbrassalloy, was
used for condensers in seawater cooling. Admiralty metal, a 70% Cu-30% Zn yellow brass
alloy with 1%tinadded to improve corrosion resistance, was introduced in 1890 for
seawater service.By the 1920s, a 70% Cu-30% Ni alloy was developed for naval
condensers. Soon afterwards, a 2%manganeseand 2%ironcopper alloy was introduced
for better erosion resistance. A 90% Cu-10% Ni alloy first became available in the 1950s,
initially for seawater piping. This alloy is now the most widely used copper-nickel alloy in
marine heat exchangers.

4.Applications Of HPHE

Industrial facilities and power plants

Solar thermal water systems

HVAC systems

Gas water heaters

Forced air heating and cooling

Direct Exchange (DX) Geothermal Heating/Cooling

Electronic systems

5.Computational Fluid Dynamics

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a computer-based tool for

simulating the behavior of systems involving fluid flow, heat transfer,
and other related physical processes. It works by solving the equations
of fluid flow (in a special form) over a region of interest, with specified
(known) conditions on the boundary of that region.

CFD Methodology

The process of performing a single CFD simulation is split into four

components

Creating the Geometry/Mesh.

Defining the Physics of the Model.

Solving the CFD Problem.

Visualizing the Results in the Post-processor.

6. Finite Volume Method

The

finite volume method (FVM) is an

increasingly popular numerical method for the
approximate solution of partial differential
equations (PDEs). Most of the author's
research work has been based on the FVM

7. Solvers Of CFD

FLUENT is a state-of-the-art computer program for

modeling fluid flow and heat transfer in complex
geometries. FLUENT provides complete mesh flexibility,
solving your flow problems with unstructured meshes
that can be generated about complex geometries with
relative ease.

Problem Solving Steps

1. Create the model geometry and grid.

2. Start the appropriate solver for 2D or 3D modeling.

3. Import the grid.

4. Check the grid.

5. Select the solver formulation.

6. Choose the basic equations to be solved:

7. Specify material properties.

8. Specify the boundary conditions.

9. Adjust the solution control parameters.

10 Initialize the flow field.

11 Calculate a solution.

12 Examine the results.

13 Save the results.

14 If necessary, refine the grid or consider revisions to the numerical or physical model.

 PROCEDURE
STEP

8. Analysis of HPHE

1: Start the fluent solver

STEP 2: Reading, checking and displaying the grid.

To read the file, select the file option, then select import, select file format which is CGNS an
then select mesh option.

fileimportCGNSMESH

Displaying the Grid

To display the grid select the display option

In the resulting mesh display panel click on the parts which we need to display and then
click on the display push button, once display push button is activated, we can see
meshed model of HPHE which is shown in below figure, then after close the mesh display
panel by clicking on the close push button.

STEP 3: DEFINING THE PYSICAL MODELS

Materialsfluidcreate/edit change/create close.

Step 5: Specifying the Boundary Conditions

The following are the boundary conditions which we are going to define are

Inlet, outlet

Symmetry1, Symmetry2

Wall up, wall down

Defining Wall Conditions

STEP 6: Solving the Problem

STEP 7: Calculate the Solution

STEP 8: Examining the Results

9.Result

After analyzing the HPHE with baffle and without baffle, we are going to display our results
in the form of contour plots of various parameters of fluid flow like temperature, velocity
and pressure.

9.1 Contour Plots of HPHE without Baffle

9.1.1 Contour Plot of Velocity

9.1.2 Contour Plot of Pressure

9.1.3 Contour Plot of Temperature

9.2 Contour Plots of HPHE with baffle

9.2.1 Contour plots of velocity

9.2.2 Contour plots of pressure

9.2.3 Contour Plot of Temperature

10. Conclusion

During this project we have acquired knowledge over Ansys CFD

and its respective solvers, by utilizing our knowledge over Ansys
CFD and Fluent solver which is a kind of CFD solver which is used
for numerical calculations, We have analyzed Heat Pipe Heat
Exchanger with baffle and without baffle and we have
represented results in the form of contour plots.