Development and Experimental Evaluation of a Plate Heat Exchanger Design Program
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판형 열교환기 설계프로그램 개발 및 실험
Development and Experiment of Plate Heat Exchanger Design Program
◇ Research Background
Heat exchangers play a crucial role in thermal transfer and heat exchange processes. Among them, plate heat exchangers are widely used in industrial and engineering applications due to their efficient structure and broad applicability. Recently, domestic small- and medium-sized heat exchanger and heat pump manufacturers have focused on developing systems that use environmentally friendly refrigerants, driven by growing environmental concerns and regulatory pressures. To design devices that utilize such eco-friendly refrigerants, it is essential to accurately determine thermal characteristics—such as pressure drop and heat transfer coefficients—under two-phase flow conditions.
◇ Research Methods and System Description
The finite difference method divides the system into small segments and calculates thermophysical properties for each segment, enabling accurate estimation of fluid properties during phase change. In this study, the heat exchanger was divided into equal-area segments, as shown in the figure below, and the finite difference method was applied. For each segment, inlet/outlet temperatures and heat transfer rates were calculated using the ε-NTU method, allowing for more precise modeling of refrigerant phase-change behavior inside the heat exchanger.
Thermophysical properties required throughout the research were computed using the CoolProp library, which provides accurate property data for a wide range of refrigerants and working fluids.
The main screen of the actual program and the user input interface are shown below.
◇ Research Results
This study was conducted using the methods described above, and the developed program underwent validation through comparison with commercial software to verify its accuracy. Currently, final verification of the program’s reliability and practical applicability is being performed through real experimental testing.
