Material selection and manufacturing for high-temperature heat exchangers: Review of state-of-the-art development, opportunities, and challenges

Many energy systems demand heat transfer at high temperatures to keep up with high demand for power, so high-temperature material that can perform and last under these harsh conditions is needed for heat exchangers. The engineering requirements for these high-temperature heat exchanger material call for high thermal conductivity, high resistance to fracture, high resistance to creep deformation, environmental stability in environments associated with the application, and high modulus of elasticity while maintaining low cost to make and maintain. Naturally, ceramics are a good solution for this endeavor. In the past, high-temperature heat exchangers made from ceramics have been used. We provide examples of ceramics in relevant heat exchange applications and provide motivation where additive manufacturing (AM) can improve efficiency. AM for the relevant material is under development, and we provide insight on the AM of ceramic materials and examples of AM heat exchangers keeping cost in mind. The motivation of the review paper is to provide a framework for material and manufacturing selection for high-temperature heat exchangers for AM to keep up with the demand for better efficiency, better material, better manufacturing, and cost moving forward with AM technology in high-temperature ceramic heat exchangers.