{"title":"Numerical study of the heat transfer characteristics of Helium-Air flow in PCHE with zigzag channel","authors":"Haidong Liu, Qiao Zeng, Deqi Chen, Yi Xiao, Yangyang Wang, Mingxia Liu, Xiaoli Qu","doi":"10.1016/j.csite.2025.105786","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The PCHE is a critical component in the intermediate heat exchanger of mobile micro-reactors. This study conducts a numerical investigation of the flow and heat transfer characteristics of helium-air within the zigzag channels of the PCHE under 69 different thermal-hydraulic operating conditions. The results reveal that the model validation shows good agreement, with maximum errors in the <ce:italic>Nu</ce:italic> and <ce:italic>f</ce:italic> of 10.75 % and 4.81 %, respectively. Changes in thermal-hydraulic parameters exert negligible effects on the inlet and outlet pressure drops for both helium and air (ΔPₕₑ ≈ 10 kPa, ΔPₐᵢᵣ ≈ 100 kPa). The helium-side inlet temperature and mass flow play a dominant role in determining the heat transfer characteristics of the PCHE. The <ce:italic>Nu</ce:italic> and <ce:italic>h</ce:italic> for variations in the helium-side inlet temperature are 19.66 % and 25.98 % higher, respectively, compared to the air-side. For variations in the inlet mass flow, the <ce:italic>Nu</ce:italic> and <ce:italic>h</ce:italic> are approximately 1.2 times greater on the helium-side than on the air-side. As both parameters increase, the overall heat transfer capacity of the PCHE is significantly enhanced. This study provides valuable theoretical insights for future experimental investigations and optimization designs of the flow and heat transfer characteristics of helium and air within the PCHE.","PeriodicalId":9658,"journal":{"name":"Case Studies in Thermal Engineering","volume":"84 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Case Studies in Thermal Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2025.105786","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"THERMODYNAMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The PCHE is a critical component in the intermediate heat exchanger of mobile micro-reactors. This study conducts a numerical investigation of the flow and heat transfer characteristics of helium-air within the zigzag channels of the PCHE under 69 different thermal-hydraulic operating conditions. The results reveal that the model validation shows good agreement, with maximum errors in the Nu and f of 10.75 % and 4.81 %, respectively. Changes in thermal-hydraulic parameters exert negligible effects on the inlet and outlet pressure drops for both helium and air (ΔPₕₑ ≈ 10 kPa, ΔPₐᵢᵣ ≈ 100 kPa). The helium-side inlet temperature and mass flow play a dominant role in determining the heat transfer characteristics of the PCHE. The Nu and h for variations in the helium-side inlet temperature are 19.66 % and 25.98 % higher, respectively, compared to the air-side. For variations in the inlet mass flow, the Nu and h are approximately 1.2 times greater on the helium-side than on the air-side. As both parameters increase, the overall heat transfer capacity of the PCHE is significantly enhanced. This study provides valuable theoretical insights for future experimental investigations and optimization designs of the flow and heat transfer characteristics of helium and air within the PCHE.
期刊介绍:
Case Studies in Thermal Engineering provides a forum for the rapid publication of short, structured Case Studies in Thermal Engineering and related Short Communications. It provides an essential compendium of case studies for researchers and practitioners in the field of thermal engineering and others who are interested in aspects of thermal engineering cases that could affect other engineering processes. The journal not only publishes new and novel case studies, but also provides a forum for the publication of high quality descriptions of classic thermal engineering problems. The scope of the journal includes case studies of thermal engineering problems in components, devices and systems using existing experimental and numerical techniques in the areas of mechanical, aerospace, chemical, medical, thermal management for electronics, heat exchangers, regeneration, solar thermal energy, thermal storage, building energy conservation, and power generation. Case studies of thermal problems in other areas will also be considered.