Experimental Heat Transfer Studies of Water in Corrugated Plate Heat Exchangers: Effect of Corrugation Angle

In the present investigations heat transfer studies are made in three different types of corrugated plate heat exchangers having a length of 30 cm and width of 10 cm. The corrugated channel has a spacing of 5 mm. Three different corrugation angles are used in this study which are 30°, 40° and 50°. Water is taken as test fluid as well as the heating medium. The wall temperatures are measured along the length of exchanger at seven different locations by means of thermocouples. The inlet and outlet temperatures of test fluid and hot fluid are measured by means of four more thermocouples. The experiments are carried out at a flowrate ranging from 0.5 lpm to 6 lpm with the test fluid. From the experimental observations film heat transfer coefficient as well as Nusselt number are calculated. These values are compared with different Reynolds numbers as well as corrugation angles. The effect of corrugation angle on heat transfer rates is discussed.