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09. Heat and Mass Transfer

A simulation study into thermal-hydraulic performance of a heat exchanger with a gyroid structure for heat transfer enhancement

In heat exchanger (HX) design, a natural effort is to maximize the thermal-hydraulic performance, including the maximization of heat transfer rate and reduction of pressure drop. In the past, the topology of heat transfer surfaces was rather limited due to the available production technology, mostly employing shaping and material subtraction. However, additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing) experienced a vast development and opened completely new production possibilities in terms of shapes and complexity. In the HX viewpoint, 3D printing can be employed for manufacturing heat transfer structures with a complex topology, leading to a high ratio between the heat transfer surface area per unit volume. Triply periodic minimal surfaces, and gyroids as their typical representatives, are considered very promising in this respect. The paper presents a thermal-hydraulic case study of a gyroid HX. The study was carried out in COMSOL Multiphysics and results of the gyroid HX were compared to a conventional shell-and-tube HX. The influence of the surface roughness, which is often an issue in 3D printing, on the HX performance was also investigated by means of an equivalent sand roughness approach. Results showed that the gyroid HX outperformed the conventional HX in terms of the heat transfer rate by about 35%, but at the expense of about three-times higher pressure drop.

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Author Information

Michal Špiláček
Dr.
Lubomír Klimeš
Dr.
Corresponding author, Presenting author
Martin Zálešák
Dr.
Jakub Kůdela
Dr.
Pavel Charvát
Prof.