Compact heat exchangers are extensively used in the automotive sector especially in engine cooling and passenger cabin cooling systems. Considering the evolution of compact heat exchangers from the past several years, development on the compactness has grown up rapidly with the market demand. In line with the futuristic view, it has become mandatory to optimize their thermal performance along with compactness, manufacturing feasibility and durability requirement.
The present work investigates the cumulative impact of various geometrical parameters of tube & fin design on heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. The parametric study determines the most optimized core matrix by considering the manufacturing constraints using the mathematical & analytical modeling. The system is mathematically modeled and then simulated to estimate the heat transfer rate, weight, free flow area, wetted area, etc. The output parameters are then normalized with respect to the existing product performance benchmark and the percentage improvement on various criterions are evaluated.
This study can be useful for designers to understand the significance of cumulative impact of various parameters of heat exchanger design which can be utilized to optimize their designs to achieve maximum thermal performance and compactness.