Effects of spacer studs on heat transfer properties of spiral plate heat exchangers

In order to study the effect of spacer stud density on heat transfer properties of spiral plate heat exchangers, a periodic structural model was established to simulate the heat transfer process of spiral plate heat exchangers. The results show that the periodic model can be successfully used to simulate the heat transfer process and the bending can strengthen the convective heat transfer process. The increase of spacer studs density can improve the heat transfer performance of the heat exchanger. The effect of the spacer stud density was not taken into account in current Nusselt correlation equation for turbulent flow. In order to help the design of spiral plate heat exchanger more accurately, the model was revised according to the numerical results. Compared with the previous model, the deviation was reduced to -9%~20%. © 2019, Editorial Board of Journal of Chemical Engineering of Chinese Universities. All right reserved.