Ansys numerical analysis of heat exchangers with passive improvement: case study of meshing density and turbulence model

Abstract

Heat exchangers are extensive used in industrial applications determining operation. Therefore, has worked on efficient and trusted designs, and possibilities for improvement have been extensively studied; This coupled to the current development of powerful microprocessors, justified and promoted the use of computational fluid dynamics - CFD to study improving techniques for these devices using different turbulence models as k-ε or k-ω, with acceptable results. However, model is not the only variable affecting results. Has been that mesh affects too, so during this work the incidence of mesh refinement is studied in results achieved during heat exchangers transfer CFD analysis using k-ε and k-ω models; simulations were developed with ANSYS© V17.0 in Modeling Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Energy Research Group of Metropolitan Institute of Technology (MATyERITM) at Medellin. The study consisted of finding convergence solutions increasingly finer meshes comparing the Nusselt number against the number of mesh elements to determine where refinement becomes unnecessary, simulations run with ANSYS’s CFX© and obtained effectively refinement incidence checked in results, and time and need for computing capacity. Models validation was performing from experimental results reported by Kumar in 2006, as proposed by Di Piazza in 2010; finding the k-ε standard model allows for greater adjustment of numerical experimental results.