Experimental investigation of enhanced heat transfer in plate heat exchanger under heaving and yawing conditions

Abstract

An investigation into the heat transfer characteristics of plate heat exchangers operating within cooling systems of offshore floating wind turbines under marine sloshing conditions is presented herein. Utilizing a six-degree-of-freedom motion platform in conjunction with a plate heat exchanger performance testing setup, the effects of yawing and heaving motions, mass flow rates, sloshing amplitudes, frequencies, and intensities on the heat transfer characteristics of R134a plate heat exchangers were systematically explored. The Results indicate that both heaving and yawing significantly enhance the heat transfer performance, with heaving conditions showing a more pronounced effect. At a heaving amplitude of 100 mm and a frequency of 0.6 Hz, the convective heat transfer coefficient of R134a can be increased by up to 61.80 %. Heaving amplitude has a more substantial impact on heat transfer performance compared to yawing amplitude. The heat transfer correlation for R134a plate heat exchangers under yawing and heaving conditions has been presented, showing good predictive capabilities with deviations confined within ±15 %.