Numerical Investigation of Performance Degradation of a Three-Fluid Recirculating Type Heat Exchanger Due to Heat Loss to Surroundings

Effects of heat-loss on the effectiveness of a multi-fluid heat exchanger are analyzed in the current work. The tri channel heat exchanger with three communicating fluids is discretized and evaluated using the finite element method. Dimensionless parameters are defined and used to enhance the adaptability of the method, and to study the effects of energy loss to surroundings in the form of heat on the heat exchanger’s operating fluid behavior. The detailed parametric analysis carried out in the work quantifies the performance degradation of the tri-fluid recirculating type heat exchanger due to energy loss to surroundings.