Enhanced printed-circuit heat exchanger for supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle pre-coolers with innovative convergent-divergent mini-channel design

IF 4.9 2区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL

International Journal of Thermal Sciences Pub Date : 2025-03-10 DOI:10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2025.109857

Joffin Jose Ponnore , Fayez Aldawi

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) operates under extreme pressure and temperature conditions, with its thermophysical properties changing rapidly near the critical point. These conditions exceed the capabilities of common welded heat exchangers to handle the substance in sCO₂ Brayton Cycle power plants. Among the most suitable heat exchangers for this application is the Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE), which has been extensively adopted in sCO₂ power systems. This unique heat exchanger offers the thermal effectiveness of a plate-type heat exchanger combined with the temperature/pressure capability of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger. Additionally, PCHEs are 75 %–85 % smaller and lighter than the shell-and-tube heat exchangers required in the mentioned cycle. The only drawback of PCHEs is the complexity and cost of the manufacturing process. That is why any proposed thermal improvement techniques for PCHEs are expected not to increase the cost or complexity of the manufacturing or tooling process. As shown in the graphical abstract, precise parallel mini channels are created on thin metal sheets using the photochemical etching process and then joined together with the diffusion bonding technique, making it a single solid-state bond (free from joints, gaskets, brazing, and welding). This research proposes an innovative modification for the mentioned mini-channels in which the diameter of the semi-cylindrical channels is gradually increased or decreased along the sheets, creating convergent-divergent fluid flow behavior to boost its thermal performance without affecting the production cost or complexity of the process. Various convergent/divergent arrangement scenarios are possible, all of which are examined under various area ratios (A_r), inlet temperatures, mass flux (G), and operating pressures from thermal, frictional, and exergetic viewpoints. According to the validated 3D numerical simulation results, this modification is found to be so promising that, in some cases, the improved heat transfer coefficient is over two times higher than that in the base model due to enhanced turbulence and fluid mixing from the convergent-divergent scenario. All other detailed results are presented and discussed in this paper.

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来源期刊

International Journal of Thermal Sciences 工程技术-工程：机械

CiteScore

8.10

自引率

11.10%

发文量

531

审稿时长

55 days

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Thermal Sciences is a journal devoted to the publication of fundamental studies on the physics of transfer processes in general, with an emphasis on thermal aspects and also applied research on various processes, energy systems and the environment. Articles are published in English and French, and are subject to peer review. The fundamental subjects considered within the scope of the journal are: * Heat and relevant mass transfer at all scales (nano, micro and macro) and in all types of material (heterogeneous, composites, biological,...) and fluid flow * Forced, natural or mixed convection in reactive or non-reactive media * Single or multi–phase fluid flow with or without phase change * Near–and far–field radiative heat transfer * Combined modes of heat transfer in complex systems (for example, plasmas, biological, geological,...) * Multiscale modelling The applied research topics include: * Heat exchangers, heat pipes, cooling processes * Transport phenomena taking place in industrial processes (chemical, food and agricultural, metallurgical, space and aeronautical, automobile industries) * Nano–and micro–technology for energy, space, biosystems and devices * Heat transport analysis in advanced systems * Impact of energy–related processes on environment, and emerging energy systems The study of thermophysical properties of materials and fluids, thermal measurement techniques, inverse methods, and the developments of experimental methods are within the scope of the International Journal of Thermal Sciences which also covers the modelling, and numerical methods applied to thermal transfer.